Car crash: 12-day police remand for restaurant chain owner's son

A city court on Sunday sent Arsalan Parwez, the scion of a restaurant chain owner, to 12 days' police remand in connection with a car crash that led to the death of two Bangladeshi nationals.

Rejecting his bail plea, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (in-charge) Alakananda Roy remanded the 21-year-old in police custody till August 29.

A Jaguar, allegedly being driven by Parwez, had early on Saturday rammed into a Mercedes, which then hurtled towards a police kiosk and dashed into it, killing two bystanders and injuring one - all three of them Bangladeshi nationals.

Seeking his police remand, the prosecution claimed that Parwez, who was driving at a high speed in inclement weather, had jumped the red signal at the four-point Loudon Street-Shakespeare Sarani intersection in south Kolkata.

Public prosecutors Abhijit Chatterjee and Snehangshu Ghosh maintained that the investigation into the incident was at a very early stage and Parwez's custodial interrogation was necessary to establish the chain of events that led to the death of two persons.

According to the prosecution, Bangladeshi nationals, Kazi Mohammed Mainul Alam (36) and Farhana Islam Tania (30) - who had taken shelter under the police kiosk due to heavy rain - were killed when the Mercedes crashed into the booth after being hit by the speeding Jaguar.

Two occupants of the Mercedes also sustained injuries in the crash. They are currently undergoing treatment at a city hospital.

Parwez has been charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder, attempt to commit culpable homicide, rash driving, mischief and damage to public property, the prosecutors said.

Debajyoti Sengupta, the lawyer representing the 21-year-old, submitted before the court that the Jaguar did not dash against the three persons under the kiosk.

Contending that the collision between the two luxury sedans did not cause the death of the Mercedes occupants, Sengupta said that it was not possible for Arsalan to imagine that the other car will dash into the kiosk and kill two persons standing next to it.

Claiming that it was a case of accident, Sengupta said the management graduate from a UK university would abide by any stringent condition if bail was granted to him.

He claimed that the weather was unfavourable at the time of the incident and the visibility low.

Opposing the prayer, the public prosecutors said since the accused person is a management graduate, he should have been aware of speed restrictions and driving rules.

They also said the accused should have been more cautious, given the weather condition.

Hearing both the parties, Judge Roy remanded Parwez in police custody till August 29.