The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Mob damages five BMTC buses after boy dies in accident

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Monday, Jan 21, 2008
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Mob damages five BMTC buses after boy dies in accident

Staff Reporter

TRAGEDY: Three-year-old Tejas Kumar

BANGALORE: In the second such incident reported in the last four days in Bangalore, an irate mob damaged five Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) buses and blocked traffic on Jayamahal Road following the death of a three-year-old boy in a road accident on Sunday.

On Thursday, an angry mob damaged 10 BMTC buses after a lorry ran over a person on Outer Ring Road off Magadi Road.

On Sunday, the police had to use force to disperse the mob that indulged in violence and disrupted traffic on Jayamahal Road after the BMTC bus ran over three-year-old boy Tejas Kumar near Contractors Club, close to the J.C. Nagar police station. Tejas Kumar, it is learnt, fell off the motorcycle which his uncle Murthy (23) was riding with Issayat (25), a friend, as pillion.

The police said that the incident took place when the three were returning after watching a film at Radhakrishna cinema. The Shivajinagar-bound bus hit the motorcycle while trying to overtake another vehicle. Murthy and Issayat, who suffered fractures, have been admitted to M.S. Ramaiah Hospital.

According to eyewitnesses, the injured Murthy brought the body of Tejas to M.R.S. Palya.

The death of Tejas, who is the grandson of a Kannada rights organisation activist, enraged the residents and the organisation activists, who thronged Jayamahal Road.

The unruly mob started throwing stones at buses plying on the road, which resulted in damage to five BMTC vehicles.

Traffic affected

Meanwhile, the protest affected the movement of traffic on Jayamahal Road. Traffic towards Bangalore Cantonment Railway Station moved slowly as many protestors squatted on the road. For nearly an hour in the evening, the police had to divert vehicles towards Nandidurga Road, and many bus commuters waiting for buses on Jayamahal Road were caught unawares.

Demanding action against the driver, the protestors also wanted the police to arrange for immediate payment of compensation.

Though police officials, including Assistant Commissioner of Police (J.C. Nagar) B.B. Ashok Kumar tried to pacify them, the protestors were unrelenting. When they tried to block traffic again, the police had to use force to disperse the mob.

The residents were angry that the police have not initiated speed-check measures on Jayamahal Road despite a number of accidents.

“It is difficult to even cross the road where vehicles, especially buses, move fast,” said A. Ram. Another resident, Shivaram B.J., said the police have not taken any action despite there being requests. “In this case, the police registered a case only after we started protesting,” he said.

“The BMTC drivers drive the vehicles fast on this stretch. The driver of the bus involved in the accident did not stop the vehicle despite knocking down those on the motorcycle,” alleged A. Obalesh, Tejas’s uncle.

The residents said the only road hump on the road was near the State Bank of India branch. “This was laid only after the death of a police constable,” another resident Ashfaq R. said. “We have lost a young boy due to the lackadaisical approach of officials concerned to our problems,” he said.

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