Gauhati High Court junction crash: One occupant surrenders, two yet to be traced

Guwahati, Feb 3: One of the occupants of the car involved in a fatal road accident near the Gauhati High Court premises surrendered before the police on Tuesday, a night after the crash claimed the life of a young woman.

Police identified the man as Omar Syed, a relative of the driver, Kayam Syed, who is already in police custody after being detained on Monday night.

Omar Syed surrendered at the Panbazar police station on Tuesday morning.

Two other occupants of the vehicle, identified as Parveen Soni and Akshay, allegedly fled the spot immediately after the accident and remain absconding, police said.

The accident occurred late on Monday night near the Gauhati High Court traffic point, directly in front of the official residence of the Chief Justice, when a hatchback car rammed into a road divider after the driver reportedly lost control of the vehicle.

Five people were travelling in the car at the time. Niha Das died on the spot due to the impact.

According to police sources, the vehicle, an Alto, belonged to a cab driver and had been taken out for a personal ride by Kayam Syed. The group had reportedly gone out for a night drive.

Traffic police officials said the car was moving from the Panbazar side when it struck the divider near the High Court.

“The vehicle rammed into the divider on the right side of the road. It was a four-wheeler and no other vehicle was involved. The traffic signal was red, and near the Chief Justice’s traffic point, the vehicle lost control and hit the divider,” a traffic police official said.

The official added that Niha was seated on the rear left side of the vehicle at the time of the crash.

“One person was found near the car and taken to the police station, while the others are alleged to have fled. As per preliminary investigation, the detained person claimed the accident occurred while trying to save a scooter,” the official said.

Locals present at the scene reportedly confronted the driver following the crash.

Personnel from the Panbazar Traffic Police reached the spot shortly thereafter, recovered the body, seized the damaged vehicle and detained Kayam Syed.

Niha Das, a third-year undergraduate student of Radha Govinda Barua College, had left her residence at Fatashil GS Colony earlier in the evening on her scooty to tutor children.

Later, she informed her mother over the phone that she would be going out to eat with a friend.

According to her family, Niha often returned home late because of her tuition schedule, which initially did not raise concern.

“She used to go for tuitions. When her mother called her, she said she would return after eating something. She went out on her scooty, but the accident happened inside a car. She usually came home by 10 or 10:30 at night, so we did not worry at first,” her father said.

Police said further investigation is underway to trace the absconding occupants and establish the sequence of events leading to the crash.