Vir Hanuman, Sea Land and New Samrat, the three launches of Calcutta River Traffic Police (RTP), did their job successfully ? blocking general ferry services beneath the bridge, guarding the ?culprit? vessel and guiding it to Shibpur jetty at the end of the operation.

As soon as news of MV Moni getting stuck under the bridge reached RTP?s Babughat office, officers swung into action with three launches and a speedboat. A team of senior officers, headed by deputy commissioner (port division) Ajay Ranade, rushed to the spot.

?Apart from blocking vehicular movement on the bridge, we restricted ferry services across the river. The steps were taken as part of precautionary measures after receiving an alert message from Calcutta Port Trust,? said Ranade.

The RTP allowed only the route between Babughat and Howrah station to be kept open for ferry service operators. ?We kept this route free because it is far from the bridge. Besides, one route had to be left open to the people to reach Howrah from the city,? said an RTP official.

Ranade and other senior officers, including officer-in-charge, RTP, Dipak Chatterjee, reached the spot on Vir Hanuman along with experts to start work to free the vessel.

?The first thing we did was to remove an injured crew member of MV Moni who fell off the master?s cabin on to the dock while trying to pull out the vessel?s mast. Though conscious, he suffered injuries on his chest and head. He has been admitted to a hospital in Howrah,? said another official who was part of the team.

The three RTP launches kept MV Moni surrounded till its mast was removed from under the bridge. ?We took both the vessels, MV Moni and Ganga Lahari into our custody. Ganga Lahari was used to pull out the other vessel from under the bridge,? said an officer, adding that at the end of the operation, both vessels were escorted to Shibpur jetty, along with crew members.

The RTP officials then brought the master of MV Moni, M.S. Barua, and engine driver Prasanta Debraj to the Babughat office in their launch. Barua was interrogated by the OC, RTP, for over half-an-hour to get a detailed account of the incident.

RTP officials also called the owners of the barge ? Shankar Lal Jain and his son Sanjeev ? for interrogation.

?After recording their statement, we sent them to the North Port police station. No one has been arrested in this connection because we have not received any complaint yet,? said Ranade. Police, however, detained Barua at North Port police station for further interrogation.