Youth dies in accident, mob sets errant truck on fire

A stone loaded truck hit a bicycle on National Highway 60 at Rampurhat and claimed the life of a 35-year-old person there.

The brother of that person, who was the pillion rider of the bicycle, had a close shave. The infuriated mob ransacked the truck and set the truck on fire. They blocked the National Highway for an hour in morning causing a huge traffic jam in that stretch.

Police said that Alimuddin Sheikh the bicycle rider was riding his cycle along the National Highway and his brother Mominuddin was riding pillion. A toto (battery driven vehicle) suddenly came in front of them.

Alimuddin could not control the speed and he suddenly turned his vehicle in the right side only to come in the way of the speeding truck which crushed him there.

Mominuddin, the brother of the victim fortunately fell on the other side and his life was saved.

The driver of the truck and his aide soon escaped the spot. The truck was ransacked and then set on fire by the locals there. People started to pelt stone at the police who tried to calm down the situation.

“The rash driving claimed the life of the victim. It is regular affair here. We expect some action by the traffic police,” said a local resident.

However, the traffic police believe that the toto driver was the main culprit here. “The toto should not have plied here in the National Highway. Alimuddin tried to avoid a collision with the toto only to meet the killer truck,” said a police officer.

The resident of Kumadda village, Alimuddin was an unemployed man. He did not have any fixed employment and was looking for a job. “He was going to get a security guard’s job nearby,” said one of the villagers.

A huge police force reached there to tame the situation. The force put the guard walls there to protect the areas from the unruly mob.