Kolkata: Helmetless biker loses life in race

KOLKATA: A bike race on Belghoria Expressway claimed the life of a 28-year-old youth at Durganagar near Dum Dum on Tuesday night. While racing with another two-wheeler on the Dakshineswar- bound flank of the expressway, the deceased, Ritesh Dogra, a resident of Srirampur in Hooghly, rammed his bike into a brick-laden truck at a speed of nearly 60 to 70 kmph.

He was not wearing a helmet , according to the police.


“The victim’s face was disfigured in the impact of the accident. We suspect he had dashed hard against the rear iron dala(back cover) of the truck. As he was not wearing a helmet, his head was almost smashed,” said a senior traffic official of the Barrackpore commissionerate.

“We are yet to find out the pillion rider on the mangled bike and the other two-wheeler that was racing with it,” added the official. Local sources said the accident had happened at around 12.40am and another youth was riding pillion on the bike that had hit the truck.

“Four youths on two bikes were racing on the Dakshineswar-bound flank of Belghoria Expressway. None of them wore helmets. As the second bike overtook the victim’s bike at Mathkal crossing, Durganagar, he sped up and lost control and collided with the truck from behind,” said Soumen Nandy, worker of a road-side eatery.

The locals claimed that the other bike, with which Dogra was racing, did not stop after the accident. The truck also sped away.

The pillion rider on Dogra’s bike was thrown off the bike and bleeding, but he disappeared mysteriously in the dark before people rushed to the accident spot.

The Dum Dum police team patrolling the area took the victim to Kamarhati Sagore Dutta Medical College and Hospital where he was declared brought dead. Police suspect that the victim and his friends who resorted to the bike race were all drunk. “Prima facie it appears that they had gone to a bar-cum-restaurant off the expressway and while returning home, they started the bike race. We informed the family of the deceased,” said a senior police officer of the Barrackpore commissionerate.