Biker dies after civic volunteer kicks, punches him for not wearing helmet; locals block road

Kolkata: Chowmatha area of Madhyamgram in North 24-Parganas turned into a battlefield with local residents clashing with policemen after a helmetless biker was lynched to death by some civic volunteers.

The district police have arrested Soumen Roy, the main accused, who had allegedly hit on the victim's head with a stick as he refused to pay a huge amount of money as fine to the volunteers.

The accused slapped and punched him in his chest indiscriminately after he fell from the bike.

He was declared brought dead after being rushed to a nearby hospital. The incident sparked tension in the area with the locals chasing the accused who fled the spot. An irate mob put up a roadblock at Madhyamgram Chowmatha on Jessore Road disrupting traffic movement in the area for several hours on Saturday morning.

They demanded that all the civic volunteers must be sacked immediately.

The locals alleged that cops often instruct these civic volunteers to slap huge amount of fine arbitrarily on helmetless bikers.

Policemen do not even try to dissuade the traffic volunteers from harassing the masses.

It was learnt that the victim, identified as Soumen Debnath (45), a resident of Sreenagar area of Madhyamgram, was heading towards Chowmatha along Badu Road when the accused stopped him as he was not wearing a helmet.

They also examined the papers of the bike.

The accused allegedly demanded a huge amount of money from the victim who runs a garment business. As the victim denied paying up, a heated altercation between the two broke out.

Following the incident, the accused hit him on his head, went on punching and slapping him till he became unconscious. Even after he fell on the road, the accused did not stop.

He continued to kick him in his chest that led to serious internal injuries. It was alleged that some other civic volunteers who were present at the spot also beat up the victim.

The roadblock was lifted at around 1 pm following the intervention of a few senior police officers. Some local residents also staged sit-in demonstration outside Madhyamgram police station.

Additional Superintendent of Police (North), Abhijit Banerjee, said: "We have already arrested Soumen Roy, the accused civic volunteer.

"He is being interrogated. CCTV footages will be examined. Action will be taken against those who are involved in the incident. The victim's body has been sent for an autopsy to ascertain the cause of his death."