Traffic on the Kadma-Sonari marine drive came to a standstill as residents of Bagey Bustee, under Kadma thana area, blocked the road for more than two hours on Tuesday.
The residents were protesting police inaction in checking rash driving of heavy vehicles on the thoroughfare.
A 22-wheeled speeding trailer rammed into a railing, having deviated from its course on the marine drive along Bagey Bustee at about 1 am on Tuesday. Fortunately no one was injured in the incident.
Protesting residents detained the trailer driver, demanding an explanation for his rash driving. They were concerned that the accident could have caused fatal injury to someone, in case they were present on the sidewalk.
When officers from Kadma thana arrived at the scene, protesters gheraoed the cops, asking what was the permissible speed limit and the course of action if someone was injured. A police official told them in case such a mishap occurs, Rs 10,000 will be given to the victim’s family and the body will be taken for post-mortem.
The trailer rammed into a railing close to an urban slum along the marine drive in Kadma on Tuesday. Animesh Sengupta
This irked the protesters further, and they called local Congress activist Shikha Chaudhury. Led by her, around 50 of them blocked the road, not allowing any vehicle to go through, and demanding the police officer be suspended for his cavalier remarks.
The blockade, which began at around 10 am, was cleared by noon, after Kadma thana OC Ranjit Kumar assured the protestors that the policeman who made such irresponsible comments will be investigated.
"This was not the first time that a heavy vehicle rammed into the railing here. Earlier, several fatal road accidents have occured due to rash driving. Had there been a speed limit, chances of such mishaps taking place would be less. Instead of doing the needful, the police made irresponsible comments about bustee residents," Shikha Chaudhury told The Telegraph Online.
"The driver of the trailer lost balance and hence the vehicle had deviated from its path. We are looking into the grievances presented by the bustee residents," OC Ranjit Kumar said.
