Police officer & car fall into Teesta

RAJIV RAVIDAS;TT; An SUV carrying the officer in charge of Rambi police station rolled down 100 feet into the Teesta in Kalimpong. Along with OC Shiv Sagar Chhetri (right), his friend Soumen Banerjee and the driver of the car are missing. The accident happened at a place called Geilkhola, which is 17km from Kalimpong and on NH31A, on Saturday night. Banerjee is an employee of the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation.

The driver’s name is Pritam Chhetri. Sources said the police officer was returning to Rambi after attending a programme. The accident happened at a point that had no crash barriers. “The accident happened between 9.30pm and 10pm but we were unable to ascertain the cause of the mishap,” a police source said. Shiv Sagar Chhetri, 48, is a resident of Mangaldara, and took over as the OC of Rambi outpost on May 21. Banerjee, 35, is a resident of Saradapara in Siliguri and had been working at NHPC’s Teesta Low Dam Project at Rambi since 2004. Driver Pritam, 20, is a resident of Rambi.

 “We have pressed three rafts into the search operation (top), but have not managed to trace either of them or the vehicle. The strong current of the swelling Teesta must have swept them down stream. We will try tomorrow as well,” said Sukbir Tamang, the president of the Teesta-Rangeet River Rafting Association.