Elderly man dies days after being beaten up by auto-driver

Kolkata: A 60-year-old man succumbed to his injuries that he had received when beaten up by an auto-rickshaw driver for protesting against rash driving.

Police said the victim, Bhubaneswar Yadav, was beaten up on September 7. Since then, he was shifted to different hospitals and finally was admitted to a private nursing home at Topsia where he succumbed to his injuries on Saturday late night.

Police had initiated a case under Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). With the death of the 60-year-old man, his family members demanded to initiate a probe on charges of murder.

Narrating the incident, a police officer said that the victim was hit by an auto-rickshaw near Gouribari in North Kolkata on the night of September 7 when he was returning from work. The auto-rickshaw driver had failed to control the vehicle as it was at a high speed while coming down from Arabinda Sarani Flyover and hit the man.

The victim protested as the accident was an outcome of rash driving. The accused auto-rickshaw driver, Asit Das, first abused the victim and then manhandled him. He continued beating up Bhubaneswar till he fell on the road and fled leaving him to die as he was in a hurry to take passengers in his auto-rickshaw at their destination. Locals informed the matter to the police who took him to RG Kar Medical College and Hospital where he underwent treatment for a few days. Later, he was shifted to some other hospitals as advised by doctors for certain treatments. A few days ago he was admitted to a private nursing home at Topsia where he died on Saturday night.

Within a day of the incident, the police had arrested the accused auto-rickshaw driver. He was later released on bail. The victim's family members and locals demanded a proper probe. They demanded stringent punishment of the accused and at the same time, necessary arrangements to check repetition of such incidents.