Truck swerves on dug-up Howrah road, kills boy

Calcutta, Feb. 5: A truck negotiating a dug-up road veered off course and crushed to death a Class XI student in Howrah tonight. Arijit Maity, a 17-year-old from Hem Pal Lane, was cycling home after tuition when the truck hit him and sped away. The accident occurred around 8pm on GT Road. A student of Bally Siksha Niketan, Arijit was the only son of Ashoke Maity, a Calcutta police employee. Residents said the road had been dug up for laying pipes but the holes were left open. “The public works department had dug up the road for laying water pipelines. But the holes remained on the road. The driver of the truck was trying to negotiate a ditch, lost control of the vehicle and hit the youth,” Manoj Sau, an eyewitness, said. “We have repeatedly requested the Bally municipality to cover the holes. But for the last three months, the municipality did not get time to repair the road. Had the holes not been there, the youth wouldn’t have died,” Sau added. The truck, travelling from Howrah towards Bally, hit Arijit from behind. When the boy fell on the road, the rear wheel crushed his head. “He was taken to TL Jaiswal Hospital which pronounced him brought dead. The driver of the truck made off with his vehicle. We have launched an investigation,” Niraj Kumar Singh, the superintendent of police, said. “Arijit left home around 6pm as usual. He was supposed to return home around 8.30pm. My neighbours told me that my son had met with an accident and was admitted to hospital. Here, I found him dead,” Ashoke Maity said at the hospital. “I had lots of plans for my son. What will I do now?” the father asked, before bursting into tears. Ranjit Chakraborty, a neighbour, said: “They (the Maitys) shifted here from nearby Rashbari seven months ago. Arijit was studious and sober. I spoke to him this morning. I cannot believe he is no more.”

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