Salboni, Aug. 4: Villagers in West Midnapore's Salboni have set up four speed-breakers on a 200-metre stretch of a state highway that security forces use to access Jungle Mahal, protesting the death of a youth after being hit by a speeding bus.

The move by the villagers has worried the district administration that fears the speed-breakers could not only cause accidents but also reduce the speed of vehicles ferrying security forces to the once Maoist-infested jungles. During the Maoist-backed Lalgarh movement against the government in 2009, villagers often dug up roads leading to Jungle Mahal to stop forces.

The Salboni-Lalgarh road, on which the bumps have been constructed, is strategically important. The Jhitka forest, once a hotbed of Maoist activities, lie north of the road, which also connects Salboni with the Pirakata and Dherua villages.

A senior district official told this correspondent that the administration was not thinking of removing the speed-breakers at the moment, fearing it could antagonise the villagers, many of whom had taken part in the Lalgarh movement.

"The administration does not want a backlash. We don't want to use force. We will speak to the villagers through the local panchayats and create awareness about road safety," the official said.

The bumps, which have been created using cement slabs lying along the road, are uneven and can throw any speeding biker off balance in the evening, when the stretch is dark in the absence of enough street lights.

Sources said the Salboni-Lalgarh road cut across several villages where Maoists had set up training camps and concealed bases during the height of rebel activities between 2007 and 2011.

Although Maoist activities have subsided substantially, central forces still patrol the area.

"Installing speed-breakers on such a road would slow down the movement of the forces considerably. Five years ago, improvised explosive devices used to be found almost every day on this road," an official said.

The villagers' move to dig up the road and construct the bumps was triggered by an accident that occurred around 8am today.

A speeding bus hit two workers of a local hatchery who were walking on one side of the road. One of them, Asit Karmakar, 25, died on the spot, while the other, Bhombol Bhuniya, 23, was admitted to Midnapore Medical College and Hospital in a critical condition.

"The bus swerved to the side of the road in a bid to avoid hitting a cyclist," a police officer said.

Soon after, the villagers of Chingrishol blocked the road for 30 minutes until the police persuaded them to leave. But after the police left, the villagers took cement slabs lying nearby and dug up the road at two places. They lowered the slabs into the trenches, turning them into uneven speed-breakers.

"Accidents take place regularly on this stretch," said Sunil Dokra, a farmer. "We had requested the authorities several times to build bumps but nothing happened," he added.

Soon after news reached the adjacent village of Burishol, its residents set up two more speed-breakers on the road.

The police said they had no information on frequent accidents on the stretch.