Suvendu convoy death case: TMC hands over Rs 5 lakh cheque to family of victim; CID takes over investigation

Kolkata: The state Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has taken over the investigation of the hit-and-run case of Chandipur where a car from BJP leader Suvendu Adhikari’s convoy ran over a youth identified as Israfeel Khan.

Meanwhile, on behalf of Trinamool Congress (TMC), the party’s MLA Soham Chakraborty handed over a cheque of Rs 5 lakh to the family of Khan. Soham assured the family of all support from TMC in future.

The locals alleged that the car sped away instead of stopping to help the victim.

Trinamool Congress condemned the act and called Adhikari “heartless” and “inhuman” for leaving the victim on the road instead of taking him to a hospital.

The cheque of Rs 5 lakh was handed over to the family as per the instruction of the Chief Minister and TMC chairperson Mamata Banerjee.

On Thursday Khan was standing near a roadside tea stall with his bicycle when a SUV tried to overtake other vehicles. It is alleged that despite Khan suffering critical injuries after the accident, neither any security personnel from Adhikari’s convoy nor the Leader of Opposition (LoP) took him to the hospital. The driver, identified as Anand Kumar Pandey, was arrested later.

After the incident, Trinamool Congress demanded immediate arrest of Adhikari.

Stating that Suvendu was ‘inhuman and shameless’, Abhishek Banerjee said: “How shameless one person can become when he flees after his convoy hits a person. This happens only when the person becomes arrogant. It was his duty to stop and ensure that the injured victims could have been rushed to the hospital. Instead of getting down from the car, Adhikari chose to flee from the spot and the convoy rushed away at a speed of 100 kmph. If such an Opposition leader and his party comes in power what will happen to the people of Bengal? Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had been in the Opposition for a long time. Did any such incident ever happen?”