Delivery person battles for life after bike accident

Kolkata: Two bikes collided with each other near Judicial Academy in New Town on Wednesday morning.

One of the bikers identified as Sariful Shaikh, who is a delivery person of Swiggy, got serious head injuries and is admitted to a city hospital. The condition of the delivery person is stated to be serious.

Locals told Shaikh was riding his bike at a high speed and eventually lost his control.

Keeping in mind the extent of the damage, Bidhannagar Police is soon going to arrange a meeting with the food delivery agencies over the issue of rash driving by

delivery persons.

According to locals, Shaikh was coming from the Sapoorji area and was headed towards Narkelbagan. Near Judicial Academy, Shaikh failed to notice the speed breaker placed on the road. He crossed over the speed breaker at a

high speed.

Meanwhile, another bike was taking a U turn just a few meters ahead of him. As Shaikh was a high speed, he collided with the bike that came infront of him and fell on the road. The other biker also fell off the bike but suffered minor injuries.

Shaikh was immediately removed to a private hospital near New Town police station and was later shifted to another private hospital near Haldiram's. In the evening, he was again shifted to another hospital at Mullick Bazar, specialised for neurological treatment.

It is alleged that food dilvery apps such as the likes of Swiggy often takes action if a delivery person fails to deliver the food within a

stipulated time. They also pay some amount of money as commission for faster delivery of food.

To comply with the policy and make some extra amount, delivery persons are frequently seen flouting traffic norms that results in self-harm or harm of others. The delivery persons ride very fast to reach their destinations in fear of

getting penalised.

"We do not encourage anyone to flout traffic norms or ride fast. There is no provision of imposing penalties," said a

Swiggy official.

According to the sources, in Wednesday's accident Shaikh's bike had no insurance and as a result, he will not get any compensation. Police sources said after the Swiggy authority was informed about the accident, they avoided taking any liability because Swiggy has no social security scheme for their delivery persons.

To sort the matter, Bidhannagar Police will call the food delivery agencies and mention some guidelines that need to be followed strictly. The agencies will also be asked to keep a periodical check of the delivery persons' bikes and the related vehicle documents.

"We will sit with the food delivery agencies and their delivery persons to ensure there is no over-speeding and rash driving by them," said Amit P Javalgi, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Headquartes) of Bidhannagar Police.