Students killed in Kalain road accident were rash driving, says initial police investigation

Five students of Nabin Chandra College in Badarpur were killed in a head on collision between a Maruti Alto and a speeding truck on the Kalain-Lakhipur highway on Wednesday afternoon. Everyone expressed their anger as they were young students in their teens who lost their lives in a flash. The road was blocked, MLA gheraoed, a student who questioned the MLA was arrested by the police and then released later on.

However, the Police Superintendent of Cachar said after a primary investigation it was discovered that the students were driving the Alto car by themselves at a very high speed, which is commonly known as ‘rash driving’. As a result, the driver of the truck cannot be unilaterally blamed for the head on collision. Recently, a lot of people have lost their lives in various areas of Cachar district in road accidents due to collision with four-wheelers because of which people are naturally pointing their fingers at the drivers involved in the accidents.

The Maruti Alto collided with the truck and fell into a nearby pond. Before that, three students fell on the road after the collision happened while the remaining two got trapped inside the car. Four students died on the spot and another died on the way to Silchar Medical College Hospital in a critical condition. All of them were first-semester students of Science Department at Badarpur NC College. After the incident, the police officers are looking from all perspectives. They have different opinions about how the collusion happened, who was to blame, where it started, etc.

According to Superintendent of Police BL Mina “Some of the investigating officers are saying that the actual driver of the Alto car was coming behind them in a bike. One of the five students was sitting in the driver’s seat of Alto. It is still under investigation whether he had a driving license or not, but it is confirmed that he wasn’t skilled enough in driving. We also heard that they were doing a Facebook live from the car and the ones viewing the live saw the music in the car being very loud and they were at a very high speed. Of course, it is not the perfect time to make a conclusion yet but it can be said that the students were ‘rash driving’.”

Now the question is why the driver was coming on the bike leaving the unskilled students to drive? Why did five meritorious students take such a step which took their lives? An eyewitness said that the Maruti Alto was going very fast, overtaking one car after another. Before the accident, it overtook a magic car and hit the truck very badly as it came on its way. Recently, the roads in Barak Valley have got a new look and this has increased the tendency of drivers to overspeed. In most cases, accidents are seen while overtaking.

However, not only the Maruti Alto, but the truck coming from the opposite direction was also driving at a very high speed, which is why an accident of such a massive intensity happened. A few days ago, two people died in another accident in the same spot. So it might not be possible for police to avoid their responsibility by simply blaming the students for rash driving. Besides, parents need to be more careful before handing over cars or bikes to their children, otherwise we may witness more such accidents in the future. When the mudslinging is over, everyone has to self-crticize.

The Principal of Nabin Chandra College said that the victims of the accident were first semester BSc students. They were very talented and attentive students. They would drive to college together and return home in the same car after college. If the police’s claim is true, then it can be said that it was unwise of parents to hand over the car keys to their kids not skilled enough to drive.