Local residents put up roadblock on the Kandi-Salar state highway in Murshidabad with a body of a 27-year-old youth who was crushed to death by a speeding truck.
The incident triggered tension in the locality and a huge contingent of police rushed to the spot to pacify the mob. Police said that the victim Sitaram Majhi (27), a resident of Mansurpur area under Bharatpur police station, was a fisherman. The accident occurred near Bharatpur area on the Kandi-Salar highway on Sunday morning when the youth was returning home after selling fish in a local market.
The eyewitnesses told the police that the victim was riding on his bicycle along the state highway when a speeding truck coming from Salar lost control and crushed him. The driver of the vehicle fled the spot leaving the vehicle before the local residents rushed there.
They found that the victim had already died. An agitated mob damaged the vehicle and started a demonstration on the highway with the dead body.
After being informed a huge contingent of police rushed to the spot and urged the local residents to lift the demonstration as it had already created a huge traffic jam in the area.
The local villagers told the police that the vehicles often overspeed while passing through the area as a result of which accidents take place there quite often. The local people finally lifted the demonstration after the senior police officers from the district assured the villagers that the accused driver would soon be booked and steps would be taken to check the overspeeding of vehicles. The body was later sent to Kandi Sub-divisional hospital for the post-mortem.
The traffic movement was also restored. The local residents demanded a compensation for the victim's kin.
Police have seized the truck and are conducting raids to nab the accused driver. The situation in the area is normal, said a senior police officer in the district.