TMC leader Mohammed Sohrab’s son Sambia, who is said to be involved in a Hit-and-run case, has been taken into custody on Saturday night and most probably will be presented in the court on Sunday.
Three guard rails were broken down by the high speed Audi before it hit Corporal Abhimanyu Gaud and ran away. The incident happened at 6:30 am when the parade rehearsal was going on Kolkata’s Red road, which was closed for traffic at that time.
In the words of a Police officer, “The car dragged Gaud more than 20 m after hitting him. It then stopped and sped away before stopping near the South Gate of Fort William on Kidderpore Road.”
It was clear that either of the sons of TMC leader, Ambia or Sambia, was involved in the accident but both of them with their father went missing after the incident. However, now the situation is getting little clear after police has received some leads from the witnesses and friends of Sambia.
A friend of Sambia has claimed that he was drunk when the accident happened. Johnny, a friend of Sambia told, “That day we all we were drinking. There were four cars: Swift, Skoda, Audi and Fortuner. Everyone told Sambia that he had a drink too much and so he must leave his car here, and leave but he did not listen to anyone. Sambia fought with Sanu (another friend) when he tried to stop him and slapped him a couple of times saying don’t bother me. He overtook us and went off.”
He added, “Further ahead, the police stopped us saying there is not entry here as parade practice is on. When we protested that the other car just went by, they said that car would be penalised. So we took the other route and went home and slept. The next morning we heard all this was happening. We heard the police is hunting for us and so we got scared and fled because a similar issue happened earlier and we got scared. Otherwise we wouldn’t have fled.”
As per sources, Sambia is giving contradictory statement to the police; he is saying that on the day of the incident, he was at his home. He went to East Midnapore by bus, then he went to Ranchi by train and he was there for two days.
Mamata Banerjee government is constantly under fire for allegedly protecting TMC leader’s son and it took four days in arresting him.
The sources say that police was informed by a friend of Sambia, Shahnawaz Khan, that it was Sambia who was driving Audi Q7 and he was following him. Shahnawaz managed to pass on information through his sister-in-law and he also told his family that he was running away as he doubted that Sambia due to his political influence might get him framed up in the case.
Siddharth Nath Singh, spokesperson of BJP, stated, “TMC could have taken action if they wanted to but they didn’t because a TMC leader’s son is involved. So it has become clear that they want to help their own party leader’s son to get off the hook. This shows that the law and order in the state is terrible.”
Defence CPRO Wing Commander SS Birdi feels that the arrest is just a beginning and justice is still awaited. In his words, “The arrest of the prime accused in the famous red road hit and run case of January 13 is a major development that is expected to hasten the investigation process. However, this is just the first step in the process and the delivery of justice is still some distance away. We are expectantly looking forward to the next step.”