A minibus trying to overtake a private bus from the wrong side knocked down a cyclist on Benaras Road, in Liluah, on Monday morning.

Paltu Das, 40, was taken to Kona Primary Health Centre by a pedestrian, but he had died by then.

The driver of the killer bus has been arrested and a “case started against him”, said Niraj Kumar Singh, the superintendent of police (Howrah).

This was the second mishap in three days in Howrah, in which a life has been lost.

Das, a resident of Chamrail, was a casual worker in a private firm. He was on his way to work around 7.45am when he was caught between the buses racing with each other to pick up as many passengers as possible.

After a long chase, the minibus, on the Baluhati-Esplanade route, finally overtook the Jagadishpur-Esplanade bus on route 57A from the wrong side at Eksara More, under Liluah police station.

While doing so, it hit Paltu, who was flung a few feet away, his head hitting the pavement.

Sujata Mandal, who witnessed the mishap, said: “The 57A bus was about to start after picking up passengers when the minibus suddenly tried to overtake it from the wrong side. As it hit the man, I ran to the spot and saw him gasping for breath. With the help of a local youth, I rushed him to Kona Primary Health Centre, where he was declared dead.”

Paltu has left behind wife Atashi, 32, and daughter Tithi, 12, a student of Class VII.

“I am a homemaker. Who will look after me and my daughter?” cried Atashi.

Local residents put up a roadblock to protest rash driving and lack of enforcement of traffic rules. The blockade was lifted at the intervention of senior police officers.

Sunil Ranjan Sikdar, the secretary of a local club, said: “The district administration should immediately take action against rogue drivers who are responsible for several road deaths.”

Last Saturday, a minibus on the Baishnabghata-Howrah Maidan fell off Bankim Setu while trying to overtake another bus, killing a woman.