35-year-old woman killed in accident

Kolkata: A chaos broke out on Purulia-Raghunathpur State Highway on Sunday morning following a road accident in which a 35-year-old woman was killed.

An irate mob went on rampage, ransacking a police vehicle following the accident.

Locals staged a demonstration and put a road block at Padalara village in Purulia at around 6 am protesting against the reckless driving of vehicles.

The victim has been identified as Bisakha Mahata (35). She was walking along the road to get drinking water from a nearby area at the time of the accident. According to police, the woman was hit by a pickup van at Padalara village on Purulia-Raghunathpur State Highway.

Another woman Pranati Mahata, who was accompanying the victim, also received injuries in the accident.

Eyewitnesses told police that the Raghunathpur-bound pickup van was running at a high speed when the driver lost control over the vehicle and it knocked down the victim.

Bisakha Mahata died on the spot as she received critical injuries on various parts of her body. The accused driver fled the spot along with the vehicle. Locals rushed the injured victim to a local hospital.

After being informed police reached the spot and recovered the body of the deceased. A heated altercation broke out between the police and the villagers, some of whom ransacked a police jeep.

The incident caused traffic jam in the area for nearly an hour. A huge contingent of police later rushed to the spot to bring the situation under control.

Senior police officers assured the villagers that the accused driver would soon be arrested and action would be taken against vehicles flouting traffic norms.