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| A police patrol car parked near Ram Lakhan Path on Bypass road in Patna after a youth was run over by a truck on Sunday. Residents blocked vehicular movement in protest against the incident. Picture by Ashok Sinha |
Reckless drivers continue to have a free run on the roads of the city and claim innocent lives under the speeding wheels of their vehicles even as law enforcers struggle to catch them.
Sunday morning was no exception to that. Traffic on Bypass road on the outskirts of the city came to a halt after residents of Ram Lakhan Path put up a road blockade to protest the death of a motorcyclist in an accident.
Police said the victim, aged around 30 years, was identified as Mohammad Chand, a resident of Neura in Patna rural.
The men in uniform said a speeding truck hit the man riding a motorcycle near Ram Lakhan Path around 7am. When the errant driver tried to escape, the residents chased him. The driver was forced to abandon the vehicle and flee. Police later seized the truck and launched raids to nab him.
Chand was rushed to a nearby hospital, where the doctors declared him dead. As the news spread, a group of residents blocked the road and disrupted traffic, which had a ripple effect on the vehicle movement on the main roads of the town.
Police from Ram Krishna Nagar, Kankerbagh and Jakkanpur police stations rushed to the spot and pacified the agitators, who demanded immediate arrest of the driver.
Sadar deputy superintendent of police (DSP) Ramakant Prasad assured the protesters that the driver would be arrested soon. The DSP said: “The truck that hit the man has been seized. An FIR has been lodged and raids are on to arrest the driver. The road blockade was removed after the police assured to book the accused at the earliest. Traffic remained paralysed for a couple of hours.”
Residents of Ram Lakhan Path and its neighbouring localities alleged that the area had become accident-prone with at least five such incidents being reported in the past fortnight.
“The police have failed to check rash driving despite several complaints lodged with senior police officers,” said Raj Kumar Rai, a tea-stall owner.
He blamed the road repair work being carried out at a snail’s pace for the accidents. The road has developed potholes at different points, leading to accidents, he said. Rai added that the residents would intensify their agitation if rash driving was not checked. On a monthly average, 10 to 15 cases of road accidents are reported from the busy road, he claimed.