Uddhav Poddar, 17, was not run over, as police claimed on Sunday.

The Class XII student of La Martiniere died after the car he was travelling in overturned due to rash driving, officers revealed on Monday.

The car belonged to one of Uddhav’s friends. The driver could not be arrested, as he fled immediately after the mishap in south Calcutta early on Sunday. Uddhav’s family donated his eyes to Susrut Eye Bank, in Salt Lake, said a spokesperson for AMRI Hospitals, where the teenager died.

Uddhav and five friends were having a joyride when the mishap occurred, said an officer of Ballygunge police station. The driver, while taking a turn from Syed Amir Ali Avenue at a high speed, lost control and rammed into the divider of Gurusaday Dutta Road. The car skidded and overturned. Injured critically in the head, Uddhav was rushed to a nursing home and then shifted to AMRI Hospitals.

Uddhav, who was picked up from his Ballygunge Place home by his friends around 6.15 am, was preparing for the annual marathon of his school. “He had been practising hard for the past few weeks and was determined to do his best at the sports meet,” said Subhash Kandoi, a relative of the Poddars.

Uddhav’s family received the news of the mishap from one of the friends who had been travelling with him. “He called us and said Uddhav was badly injured in an accident. We promptly reached the nursing home and shifted him to AMRI, where doctors pronounced him dead on arrival,” said Kandoi.

Jawed Shamim, deputy commissioner of police (traffic department), said a hunt is on for the driver.

“Skid marks at the accident spot suggest that the driver had slammed the brakes at the last moment, but the car had gone beyond his control by then,” said another officer of the police station.

La Martiniere for Boys remained closed on Monday as a mark of respect for Uddhav.