Hooghly car crash kills 3, injures 3

Kolkata: Three men were killed and three others injured in a car crash near the Chandannagar rail overbridge in Hooghly district late Friday night (Chaturthi).

Police said the victims were members of the Shankarbati Barowari Durga Puja Committee in Polba, who had travelled to Patuapara in Chandannagar to bring home the idol for their annual Puja held in the field beside Shankarbati High School.

The deceased were identified as Bhaskar Debdhara (29) of Sugandha Shankarbati, and Pritam Chakraborty (30) and Swapan Dey (40), both from Katapukur in Chandannagar. Two of them died on the spot, while the third succumbed to injuries at Chandannagar Sub-Divisional Hospital.

According to police, the idol was transported in a separate vehicle, while six committee members were returning in a private car. Around midnight, their car lost control while descending the rail overbridge and rammed into a roadside stack of bricks.

All six were rushed to Chandannagar Sub-Divisional Hospital. The injured were later shifted to Imambara District Hospital in Chinsurah, with one critically hurt man referred to SSKM Hospital in Kolkata. The other two remain under treatment in Chinsurah.

Officers from Chandannagar and Polba police stations responded to the incident. A preliminary investigation suggested the vehicle was speeding. Sources said a liquor bottle was recovered from the car, raising suspicion of alcohol consumption.

Committee members in Shankarbati said the idol had already reached the village in the other vehicle when they were informed of the accident by police.