Mom crushed on road

OUR BUREAU

Calcutta, Jan. 21: A 33-year-old homemaker was crushed under the wheels of a trailer that hit the bike on which she was riding pillion from behind on Kona Expressway today, the tragedy unfolding in front of her husband and five-year-old daughter. Jhuma Banerjee was coming to Calcutta with husband Aloke, a state finance department employee, and daughter Medha from their home in Hooghly's Jangipara to attend the department's annual sports day. Aloke and Medha escaped with minor injuries and were discharged from SSKM Hospital in the evening. "Our daughter was sitting between us. The 10-wheel trailer overtook another vehicle and hit our bike from behind," said Aloke, who works under a secretary of the finance department. "We were flung onto the road. While Medha and I fell on one side, Jhuma fell on the other and came under the trailer's wheels." Partha Chatterjee, a relative, said all three were wearing helmets. He said Medha studied in a primary school in Jangipara. "They were so excited when they left home at 11am. Look what has happened to them," he said. Passers-by on the accident-prone Kona Expressway caught the helper and cleaner of the trailer but the driver escaped. Jhuma was taken to SSKM, where she was declared dead on arrival. Akhilesh Chaturvedi, the deputy commissioner (traffic), Howrah, said: "We will conduct a test to ascertain the condition of the vehicle. An inquiry will be done to find out if the trailer was overloaded."