Van injures 3 on NH 512, driver at large

Kolkata: Two school girls and a cyclist were injured when a speeding Maruti van hit them at Thengapara area of Gangarampur in South Dinajpur on National Highway 512 on Thursday morning.

Police said that the two girls were returning home from private tuition along NH 512. When they were passing through the Thengapara area, the speeding vehicle hit them. A cyclist, identified as Altaf Hossain, also received injuries in the incident.

All the injured persons were rushed to Gangarampur Sub-Divisional Hospital for treatment. According to police, the health condition of the cyclist is serious. Local residents put up a road block on the national highway to protest against rash driving of the vehicle. They also demonstrated in front of the senior police officers who went to the spot to bring the situation under control.

They alleged that despite repeated pleas, police have failed to crack down on the vehicles that flout traffic norms quite often. The local residents also told the police that the vehicle was running at a high speed when the accident took place.

The driver of the Maruti van fled immediately after the accident, leaving the vehicle at the spot. Police have seized the vehicle and are conducting raids to nab the accused driver who is still at large since the incident took place.

The incident had created traffic congestion on the national highway, causing serious problems to the commuters in the office hours. The demonstration was lifted after senior police officers assured the local people that drives would be undertaken to stop reckless driving along National Highway 512.