Kolkata, Oct 14 Two people died, and two others were injured after a car belonging to former TMC MLA Sukumar Mahata rammed into an e-rickshaw in West Bengal’s Sandeshkhali area, veered off the road and plunged into a pond on Wednesday, police said.
Mahata was not in the car at the time of the incident, and all the victims were e-rickshaw passengers, an officer said.
“Two people died after the car hit the e-rickshaw. The two injured are undergoing treatment at a hospital. We are probing how the car driver lost control of the vehicle and plunged into the pond after hitting the e-rickshaw,” the officer said.
Mahata, however, claimed that two e-rickshaws were racing each other on the road when the accident happened. The impact of the collision sent the car plunging into the pond while the e-rickshaw was sent hurtling off course, he said.
The former TMC legislator expressed his condolences over the deaths in the accident. “I stand by the families of those affected,” he added.
Mahata had emerged as a prominent Trinamool Congress leader in Sandeshkhali after winning the Assembly election in 2021 by a margin of more than one lakh votes. His name came under scrutiny during the police investigation into the Sheikh Shahjahan case in 2024.
He was not fielded by the TMC for the 2026 Assembly elections.
(PTI News)
