The lorry that knocked down a child and his father on Diamond Harbour Road at Behala Chowrasta around 6.30am on Friday could not be intercepted for the next two-and-a-half hours.
It was finally spotted by the adjoining district’s police at Santragachhi in Howrah, around 15km from the accident spot, and handed to the Kolkata police.
People who saw the truck crush the child, Souraneel Sarkar, expressed anger at the failure of the city police to intercept it.
Many of them said that had there been police deployment at the busy intersection or in front of the school, where thousands of children and their parents walk across the road, the accident could have been averted.
Police said the lorry that hit the child and the father was on its way to Burdwan after delivering a consignment of sand in Amtala in South 24-Parganas.
“It did not stop after the accident and continued to ply along Diamond Harbour Road. It crossed Taratala, Kidderpore, Hastings and Vidyasagar Setu on its way to Burdwan. It was intercepted at Santragachhi around 9am by the Howrah City Police,” said an officer.
“Why could the police not catch the lorry at the spot? Because they are always
busy collecting bribes,” an
agitated parent said at Behala Chowrasta on Friday
morning.
An IPS officer in Lalbazar denied the allegation, saying: “From the available CCTV footage it is clear that the accident happened at 6.31am and there were police personnel at the spot by 6.33am. As for stopping the lorry, at that moment the focus was on attending to the injured persons. But the mob was not allowing police to do their job.”
The officer said most of the police officers were busy handling the agitated crowd at the spot and that delayed the effort to identify the lorry from CCTV footage.
“Once the vehicle’s registration number was ascertained, we alerted all adjoining districts. Howrah police spotted the vehicle and detained the driver,” the officer said.
The driver of the lorry, Joydeb Dutta, 51, and helper Sujit Khan, 27, have been booked under IPC sections of culpable homicide not amounting to murder (Part-II) and rash and negligent driving.
Residents of Behala, including many who witnessed the Friday morning accident, said a busy stretch like Behala Chowrasta does not get the police deployment it deserves.
A large number of vehicles ply through both flanks of the road throughout the day, but there is scant regard for traffic rules, they alleged.
The parents of students at Barisha Uchcha Balika Vidyamandir, where Souraneel studied, said no cops were deployed in front of the school during opening and closing hours.
“There are several English-medium private schools in this area. Every day, there is a heavy police deployment in front of the schools during opening and closing hours. Many guardians come in private cars to drop their children. But our students do not come in private cars. Probably that is why the police don’t think their lives are important. We have requested for police deployment more than once. But the appeals have fallen on deaf ears,” said a teacher of the school.
The police on Friday evening installed drop gates at the Behala Chowrasta intersection to prevent pedestrians from walking across the thoroughfare when the signal is green for motorists.