Road accident at Dikchu, north Sikkim on the Mangan - Singtam Road: victims' kin in shock

Kolkata/HOWRAH: The road accident in Sikkim on Tuesday night has left the city in a state of mourning. The vehicle, in which tourists from Kolkata were travelling, rolled down the hills at Dikchu, in north Sikkim, on the Mangan - Singtam Road, killing seven people.

Mamoni Singh from Behala had left for Gangtok on December 9. Sonarpur's Mina Sarkar, her husband Asit Sarkar and their two sons Soham and Souvik too went to Gangtok on the same day. Mamoni and Mina became friends when they met at a hotel in Gangtok. They, hence, decided to travel together to north Sikkim. Mamoni and Mina's family hired a Bolero for the trip. They hired Bolero.

Rajiv Chakraborty, Shankar Das and Bodhisatta Dhar of Shibpore were travelling in the same vehicle.

Tapan Sarkar, elder brother of Asit Sarkar, received a call at around 8am on Wednesday. "I was relieved to know that all are safe. Till the afternoon, I was at peace. But I received the second call to know that my sister-in-law Mina Sarkar is no more and my brother, who is a teacher, is battling for his life at the hospital. My nephews are safe. But the news of Mina's death and their accident was a bolt from the blue. They all went for the vacation with so much happiness. How would one know that it would turn so tragic," said Tapan.

On Wednesday afternoon, Pradip Singh, an employee with a jewellery showroom, was crestfallen when he heard that his effervescent wife Mamoni Singh was in that fateful car which rolled down the hilly road in Sikkim and could not survive the accident .

Pradip broke into tears on hearing the news. "My only consolation is my son. My six-year-old son was adamant to accompany his mother. But I refused and did not allow him to go. Now, I am thankful to God that I stuck to my decision," said Singh.

Three youths from Shibpore in Howrah also lost their lives in the road accident in Sikkim. The news of their death left Bhattacharjee para neighbourhood numbed in shocked. Rajiv Chakraborty, 38, a Metro employee decided to go to Sikkim with his two childhood friends Shankar Das, 36 and Bodhisatva Dhar, 37. But none had any inkling that their trip would culminate in such a tragic end.

Shibpore MLA Jatu Lahiri said, "They were very popular in the area. Most of them were the only earning members of their respective families. It is a shocking incident. I am making all the arrangements required to bring back the bodies. I am very grief-stricken today."
TOI