There was a spring in Bibek Sarkar’s step when he left home on Tuesday afternoon, to attend the Saraswati puja feast in school. An hour later, the 16-year-old lay dead, run over by a speeding car after allegedly being turned out of school for not being in uniform.

The Class IX student of Deshapran Birendranath Institution, in Mudiali, was rushing back home, to nearby Charu Market, apparently to get into uniform, when a speeding Ambassador on SP Mukherjee Road hit the bicycle Bibek had borrowed from a friend.

He was hardly 100 metres from the school gate when the accident occurred. He was taken to MR Bangur Hospital, where he was declared dead.

This sparked mob fury, not far from Tollygunge police station, with some furniture in the school being damaged, passing vehicles attacked and traffic held up.

Gurudas Sarkar told police that Bibek, his only child, had gone to school around 1.50pm but was not allowed to attend the Saraswati puja feast “as he was not in uniform”.

“It was then that my son took a bicycle from a friend and was rushing home when a car hit him from behind,” said Gurudas, a carpenter.

The school authorities, however, denied that Bibek had been debarred from the feast as he was not in school uniform.

Pulak Chatterjee, the headmaster of Deshapran Birendranath Institution, said: “Normally, we do not allow any student to attend school without being in proper uniform. But there was no question of denying students entry on Tuesday, as they were here not to attend classes, but for the feast.”

Chatterjee added that “several students” in casuals had attended the feast, and blamed the row on “rumours being spread by some disgruntled people out to malign the school”.

As word of the teenager’s death — and the alleged cause — got around, trouble spread from the school to the hospital. Some students started off by damaging furniture, till the police stepped in and the main gate was shut.

A mob then went on the rampage, damaging a number of vehicles, including a government bus. A roadblock was put up on Deshapran Sashmal Road, demanding action against the school authorities and arrest of the car driver. A large police contingent, along with Rapid Action Force personnel, was deployed to restore order.

There were angry demonstrations at MR Bangur Hospital as well, where an ambulance was attacked.

Bibek’s mother Jyotsna was inconsolable. “I rushed to the hospital, but by then it was all over.... My only child is no more,” she cried.

The deputy commissioner of police, headquarters, Vineet Goyel, later said Bibek’s body had been sent for post-mortem and details about his death would be known once the reports come in.