Kolkata: Five days after an 86-year-old man was fatally run over while taking an evening walk inside Uniworld City complex in New Town, police on Sunday arrested a 47-year-old woman who was allegedly learning to drive an SUV when it veered out of a parking area and ploughed into pedestrians.The deceased, Sribas Chandra Ojha, was walking with the assistance of an attendant when the SUV hit him and two others around 6.45pm on Tuesday. The vehicle was allegedly travelling at considerable speed after emerging from the parking area. Ojha was admitted to a private hospital but succumbed to his injuries on Wednesday. His attendant suffered a fractured shoulder, while another resident, Jai Sikhwal, sustained a skull fracture and remains under treatment.The accused, Pooja Ahluwalia, a tenant in the complex, was arrested on Sunday and booked under BNS sections relating to causing death by negligence and rash driving. “We were assessing all the evidence before arresting the woman. She did not have a valid driving licence and was trying to learn driving when the accident took place inside the complex,” a senior Bidhannagar City Police officer said.The arrest came amid allegations by Ojha’s family and some residents that the investigation had been slow. The family alleged that they had approached several senior IPS officers after becoming concerned that the accused might leave the country and head for Thailand.“We were busy with the rituals and it was only after Saturday, when we realised that the woman had still not been arrested. Then we started contacting people we knew. Only after that she had been arrested,” said Nilendu Chakraborty, Ojha’s son-in-law and additional chief health director at BR Singh Hospital, Sealdah.Chakraborty said his wife, Nivedita, was also walking behind her father when the SUV hit the pedestrians and had a narrow escape. The family said the accused woman’s husband had visited them and offered condolences. “He came to seek forgiveness and offered his condolences. But that cannot diminish the seriousness of the offence. She has to be punished for what she has done. A residential complex is no place to learn driving,” Chakraborty said, who along with representatives of the complex resident welfare association met the deputy commissioner (New Town) to discuss the probe progress.Following the accident, the RWA has tightened safety rules inside the complex. All bike and car driving lessons have been banned on the premises, while wearing helmets has been made mandatory for two-wheeler riders. The complex authorities said they were also working on stricter enforcement of speed limits, checking driving licences and monitoring vehicular movement within the premises.
