An ambulance stuck on Bailey Road and (above) buses of private operators block New Bypass in Patna on Tuesday. Pictures by Jai Prakash and Ranjeet Kumar Dey

Patna, June 28: Two road blockades choked thoroughfares of the city this morning and threw traffic movement out of gear.

Autorickshaw and pick-up van drivers blocked Bailey Road near Machhli Gali to protest against police extortion. Private bus operators staged a protest near Mithapur bus stand on New Bypass against the “highhandedness” of Patna Municipal Corporation (PMC) and Bihar State Road Transport Corporation (BSRTC) officials.

The protest on Bailey Road started around 9am and continued for two hours. The protesters claimed that the police often extorted money from them on the pretext of fine for violation of traffic regulations.

Ajay Yadav, the owner of a truck, said: “A traffic police inspector stopped my vehicle on Monday afternoon in this zone and asked the driver to cough up a fine of Rs 2,000. The inspector claimed this was a no-entry zone but we know that this road has free entry for trucks from 11am to 4pm. The inspector also told the driver that he could go if he paid Rs 500 to him. The driver called me up. I came here and spoke to the inspector, who refused to listen to me. I had to pay Rs 2,000 as fine for an offence not committed.”

He added: “I discussed this incident with some other vehicle owners and we decided to lodge a protest in the form of a road blockade.”

The regular commuters suffered because of the protest.

“This is the third time I have come to the spot this morning. I went back a couple of times. Bailey Road is a very important connector. Residents of places like Danapur come to Patna via this road,” said Anish Kumar, an employee of a private company.

The protesters, however, said they had no other option.

“We do not want to trouble people. But the police extort money from us. Traffic constables and inspectors often stop us for no reason at all and we have to cough up between Rs 50 and Rs 200 regularly. As a result, many drivers are forced to speed and it leads to accidents,” said an auto driver, who took part in the protest.

The protest was lifted when Sachivalaya additional superintendent of police Satyaveer Singh reached the spot and assured the protesters of investigating into their complaint.

At the other end of the city, 100 private bus operators blocked New Bypass near Mithapur bus stand to protest against the “highhandedness” of PMC and BSRTC.

When the operators were asked to vacate the premises of the bus stand this morning, it snowballed into a major protest. The thoroughfare was blocked from 10am to 1pm.

“A part of the Mithapur bus stand near gate number 3 has been reserved for BSRTC buses since 2004. At present, only 100 BSRTC buses operate from here. The number of private buses is almost 1,600. PMC and BSRTC officials came down to the bus stand today and started to barricade the area near gates 1 and 2. They said the area belonged to BSRTC. When we asked them to show the official documents, they started abusing us,” a private bus operator said.

He added that their business would be badly hit if they had to vacate the bus stand.

“We need an alterative arrangement. There are so many private bus operators here. If the whole place is given to BSRTC, where do we go?” he said.

Patna City superintendent of police Shivdeep Lande and other police officers reached the spot and convinced the bus operators to lift the blockade.

“The police said we could continue as the officials did not have proper documents to evict us. But we are worried. The administration should not remove us from the bus stand. We should be allowed to stay on,” said another bus operator.