A critically injured child from Malda died inside an ambulance near Krishnagar before daybreak on Wednesday on his way to SSKM Hospital in Calcutta after the vehicle was stuck amid Jagaddhatri Puja organisers staging blockade on NH12 demanding a go-ahead for traditional immersion processions.

Krishnagar police in Nadia have started a suo motu case and arrested five persons on charges that include unlawful blocking of the highway and causing unintended death.
Sakibul Seikh, 7, received head injuries on Tuesday evening when he fell off a terrace in Malda’s Mothabari-Ghuskitala village. He was rushed to Malda Medical College and Hospital, where doctors referred him to SSKM.

Around 8.30pm, Sakibul’s father Sazlum Seikh, 33, and nephew Aminul Seikh, 20, left Malda with the child in an ambulance. A little past midnight on Wednesday, the ambulance reached the outskirts of Krishnagar and got trapped in the blockade.

The hapless father pleaded with puja organisers to let the ambulance pass, but organisers allegedly refused to relent.Sazmul said even appeals to cops at the site failed to elicit response.
“The demonstrators were burning tyres on the road. I fell at their feet and pleaded with folded hands to allow the ambulance to pass. They refused. I tried to draw the attention of the police but they did not bother,” said Sazlum.

Around 3am, Sakibul stopped breathing. Then, police helped the ambulance move past the blockade to reach Nadia district hospital in Krishnagar town where doctors declared the boy dead on arrival.
Superintendent of Krishnagar police district Ishani Paul said offenders would be punished but refuted charges that the police did not help ensure the right of way to the trapped ambulance.

“We neither had any knowledge about the ambulance nor did anybody approach us for help. The ambulance was probably far behind in the long line of trapped vehicles. Had it come to our notice, we would definitely have cleared the way for the ambulance,” the SP told The Telegraph. “It was a very unfortunate incident. We have started a suo motu case and arrested five persons. We are trying to identify more people by scanning the video footage,” she added.

The five arrested organisers are Rana Sinha, 36, Ranjit Sardar, 25, Sanjib Halder, 28, Sritam Pal Chowdhury, 32, and Sunny Bhattacharjee, 27.

They have been charged with ransacking, flouting government order, putting obstruction on public way, blocking national highway and also causing unintended death. They were produced before a court in Krishnagar and taken into police custody.

Sakibul’s death sparked anger in his native village in Malda. A huge crowd that turned up for his burial on Wednesday demanded stringent punishment for those whose act of blocking the road contributed to the child’s death.

This visible anger of demonstrators in Mothabari-Ghuskitala village prompted officials in Nabanna to seek a report from Nadia administration.

Trinamul leader Debasish Roy, a puja organiser and member of the coordination committee, said: "We also want traditional immersion procession,but do not support the way some organisers had opted to protest on Tuesday night (the nightlong blockade).”

Trinamul MLA from Mothabari and north Bengal development minister Sabina Yasmin met Sakibul’s parents at their village home and expressed her condolences. “I will take up the matter with the highest authorities so that the offenders are punished,” she said.