Thakurpukur crash: Cops to probe passengers’ role

Kolkata: The homicide wing of Kolkata Police's detective department has taken over the probe in the Thakurpukur Bazar fatal case where film director Siddhanta Das (35), alias Vikto, was arrested for ramming his SUV into a crowd, killing one and injuring nine on Sunday morning. The case was being handled by the Fatal Squad of the Traffic Police until now. On Thursday, Alipore police court public prosecutor Sourin Ghosal claimed they need to take Das into further custody to ascertain the role of others present in the car. The police probe has revealed that at least two others, a female actor and a female producer, were travelling in the same car. But Ghosal indicated in court there might have been three others in the car besides Das.
The accused was sent to police custody until April 16. "The co-passengers might have instigated the accused. There is a possibility that the co-passengers insisted on driving or forced Das to drive while intoxicated. There were four persons in the car. The accused has given a misleading statement about the co-passengers. We cited Madras HC orders and Hyderabad Police orders where a co-passenger riding with a drunk driver can be booked in case of a mishap as they wilfully got in the car despite knowing the driver was drunk," Ghosal told TOI.
The defence contested the public prosecutor's claim, stating that the accused is not needed to identify the co-passenger. Neither is police custody necessary for this. The day's court deliberations, though, have led cops to believe that they are on the right track. "We will be serving notice to the other occupants and asking them to join investigations soon," said an officer.
Das was allegedly driving after consuming liquor almost three times the prescribed limit, cops claimed in court last Monday. A test confirmed he consumed 80mg/100ml of alcohol while the permitted limit is less than 30mg/100ml. He drove with full knowledge that it might cause grievous hurt or even death to several persons in a congested area when they left a condo at Rasapunja and consumed alcohol, the cops claimed again on Thursday.
The deceased has been identified as Aminur Rahman (63), a local who succumbed to his injuries after being admitted to a private hospital. According to cops, the incident occurred around 9.30 am on Sunday when the SUV, reportedly coming from Bakrahat and heading towards Gariahat, veered into the bustling market.