The demonstration at SSKM Hospital after 17-year-old Kismat Ram’s death. Picture by Sanjoy Chattopadhyaya

A 17-year-old hawker, reportedly being chased by a policeman, was crushed under the wheels of a private bus near Nandan on Monday afternoon.

The accident prompted the colleagues of the boy’s mother, a Group D employee of SSKM Hospital, to stage a demonstration that threw traffic out of gear in the area for over two hours.

According to the SSKM workers, the policeman had threatened to arrest Kismat Ram for selling country liquor inside the hospital. The boy ran out of the hospital and was hit by the bus, plying on route 208, on the southern flank of AJC Bose Road.

The driver — 35-year-old Raj Kumar Halder — was arrested. He was charged with rash and negligent driving and death due to negligence.

The boy was taken to SSKM, where he was declared dead on arrival. Over 100 Group D workers gathered around the body and refused to hand it over to the police for post-mortem.

The crowd spilled on to Harish Mukherjee Road around 3.40pm, an hour after Kismat met with the accident. The agitation continued till deputy commissioner (south) Rajesh Subarno assured the boy’s mother, Meena Devi, who works in the cardiology department, that the allegation would be investigated.

“There is an allegation that the boy was being chased by a policeman but we have not found any evidence,” said deputy commissioner (headquarters) Vineet Goyel.

A dark and heavily built officer of Bhowanipore police station was chasing Kismat, said the agitators.

Kismat, the eldest of Meena’s three sons, lived with her in the staff quarters on the hospital premises.

“I got the job after my husband Lalan Ram passed away a few years ago. Kismat used to support me by selling tea. The policemen had been demanding Rs 10,000 from him for allowing him to hawk on the hospital premises. A policeman had visited our quarters earlier in the day to ask about Kismat’s whereabouts,” said Meena.

She lodged a formal complaint with Bhowanipore police station about the role of police in her son’s death.

“We have started an investigation and will question policemen who were on duty at the outpost today,” said a senior officer of the police station.