Kolkata: A woman aged around 36 was killed in the wee hours of Thursday, after a vehicle rammed into her in one of the bylanes of Ballygunge. The driver of the offending vehicle was reportedly holding a learner's licence and was driving a car bearing a commercial registration number.
The woman, identified as Saraswati Halder, was a resident of Mandirbazaar in South 24-Parganas. She used to work as a domestic help in one of the houses of Aswini Dutta Road, where the accident occurred at around 7 am. According to locals, the woman was praying in front of a temple located at the end of the said road, when she was hit by the car.
On seeing the woman hit the ground bleeding profusely, the offending driver fled the scene along with the vehicle.
Locals rushed Halder to a nearby hospital with multiple severe injuries, where she was declared brought dead. Meanwhile, the locals also informed Gariahat police station about the incident. On receiving information, sleuths reached the spot and began questioning the locals.
During probe, the sleuths got hold of the registration number of the vehicle and started searching for it. After a few hours, police came to know that the car had been located at Panditiya Road.
Immediately, police rushed to the spot and seized the vehicle. Later, the offending driver, identified as Sumit Sharma, was arrested. He is a resident of New Garia who runs a travel agency located on Aswini Dutta Road.
Sources informed that Sharma had a learner's licence for Light Motor Vehicles (LMV) which had been issued earlier. He somehow managed to get hold of the key of the commercial car and started driving it. According to the rules, a learner's licence holder should be accompanied by a person who holds a valid driving licence, while driving a car. Also, the letter 'L' should be put up in red on both the front and rear windshields of the vehicle, as per the Motor Vehicles (MV) Act. But Sharma had flouted all these rules and was driving the car alone.
According to a local resident, Sharma was a highly inexperienced driver and was still learning how to drive. According to police sources, the matter is being thoroughly investigated.