Overview
- An SUV registered to former Trinamool Congress MLA Sukumar Mahata collided head-on with an e-rickshaw and both vehicles plunged into a roadside pond on Wednesday, Oct 14, 2026.
- Two people were declared dead at Minakhan Hospital: e-rickshaw driver Mujibar (Mujibur) Rahaman, about 47, and his sister Mahima Bibi, 50; Rahaman’s wife was seriously injured and their 14-year-old daughter was treated and discharged.
- Local residents pulled victims from the water and injured passengers were taken to Minakhan Hospital with the most serious cases referred to hospitals in Kolkata for higher care.
- Police say Mahata was not in the SUV, the vehicle’s driver fled the scene and remains absconding, and investigators are examining how the driver lost control of the car.
- Mahata is a Sandeshkhali teacher and former TMC MLA whose name surfaced in a 2024 probe and who was not fielded by the party in the 2026 elections, and authorities say tracing the driver and the crash reconstruction will determine criminal and civil accountability.