National cycling coach Ruma Chatterjee dies in road accident

Former India cyclist and current National coach Ruma Chatterjee died in a road accident in the wee hours of Tuesday after being hit by a speeding vehicle on the Noida-Greater Noida Expressway.

The 50-year-old Chatterjee was cycling along with the Indian junior road cycling team when she was hit by a car near Sector 45 in Noida at around six in the morning and flung to a distance. She died on the spot.

She was taken to a nearby hospital in Noida where she was declared brought dead. Police registered a case and sent the body for post-mortem.

"The group had left for practice from Indira Gandhi Sports Complex early morning to Noida and while they were returning to Delhi the accident took place. She was following the cyclists when she was hit by a speeding car from behind leading to her death on the spot," V N Singh, assistant secretary of the Cycling Federation of India, said.

The cyclist hailed from Kolkata and her body is expected to reach the city by this evening.

Chatterjee, a spinster, leaves behind her 77-year-old mother and five sisters. She was working with BSNL (Kolkata circle) as a senior accountant.

She was to accompany the Indian track cycling team to Switzerland for a eight-week training session but the contingent was denied visas. The four-member Indian team was to participate in the World Championship in Scotland.

"We had planned to send our cycling team under Ruma for a training session in Switzerland from June 1. But their visas were rejected by the authorities. We were thinking of reapplying through a different country," Onkar Singh, CFI general secretary, said.

Chatterjee, whose career in cycling started in late 1970s, was the joint-secretary of the body. She represented India thrice in international competitions.

She served as coach seven times, including the Commonwealth Games at New Delhi, Asian Games and Asian Championship.