Kalyan's car was hit in Tejgaon, did not hit Zia and run, says actor's friend

A purported friend of Kalyan Corraya says he was with the actor when the latter's car was hit by a truck in front of Tejgaon Police Station and that it did not hit photojournalist Zia Islam’s motorcycle and sped off.

Albert Aldrin Purification Rochi said he went to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) for treatment after the accident and Kalyan went to visit him, which created 'a misunderstanding'.

He said he would give his statement and papers supporting his claim to court.

Kalyan is in jail in a case over the injury of Zia, daily Prothom Alo's photojournalist.

A car hit Zia's motorcycle in the capital's Panthapath on Monday midnight. He was taken to DMCH first and then to the Apollo Hospital with serious head injuries.

He was sent to Singapore for treatment on Friday as he did not gain consciousness four days after the accident.

Kalyan's friend Rochi told bdnews24.com on Friday that he was going to Kalyan's house in Monipuriparha on Kalyan's car on that night from his house in Kalachandpur.

"A truck hit our car in front of Tejgaon Police Station. My head was injured. Kalyan took the car home as he was not injured," he said.

Rochi said he first went to Al-Raji Hospital in Farmgate in an auto-rickshaw and his relatives shifted him to DMCH, where the doctor stitched his wound.

He said Kalyan went to DMCH to visit him on that night.

"He could not contact me as his mobile phone ran out of charge," he said.

Prothom Alo Senior Correspondent Golam Mortuja Antu told bdnews24.com he saw Kalyan standing at the entrance of DMCH Intensive Care Unit when Zia was taken there.

"He told two or three of my colleagues there that his car was involved in the accident. He said he came to hospital after finding out on Facebook that the injured person was photographer Zia Islam," Antu said.

"When everyone came to know about him at the hospital, he could not be found there," he added.

Dhaka Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner Maruf Hossain Sarder told bdnews24.com no friend of Kalyan had contacted police.

"We are considering every angle during the investigation," he said.

Rochi, however, claimed police went to his house.

"I told them everything," he said.