Businesswoman in speeding sedan allegedly runs over pedestrian in Kolkata

A businesswoman, driving a luxury sedan, was arrested for allegedly running over a pedestrian near Parama Island on Kolkata’s EM Bypass Sunday afternoon.

Aditi Agarwal was in an inebriated state and was alone in the car, locals who blocked the path of the car after the incident told officers from Pragati Maidan police station.

“The car she was driving was registered on October 10 this year. Close circuit cameras that monitor traffic movement at the spot caught the car travelling at high speed” an officer at Pragati Maidan police station said on condition of anonymity.

“Relatives of the deceased, identified as Hari Mohan Ram, 48, have been contacted,” he said.

Agarwal has been booked under non-bailable section 304 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), which deals with culpable homicide not amounting to murder. Forensic experts have been asked to examine the car to find out at what speed it was travelling when Ram was hit.

The incident took place around six months after Kolkata police launched a massive drive to stop drunken driving. Drivers are made to undergo the breath analyser test at major road intersections of the city. However, these tests are conducted only at night.

Last year, Kolkata police had booked Tollywood actor Vikram Chatterjee under section 304 of the IPC for causing model and anchor Sonika Chauhan’s death. She was in the front passenger seat of Chatterjee’s sedan when he drove at a high speed, jumped the pavement on an empty south Kolkata road in the dead of the night and hit a structure.

In 2016, chief minister Mamata Banerjee had instructed the police to slap non-bailable sections against those accused of causing accident while driving in drunken state.

First Published: Nov 25, 2018 21:30 IST