Kolkata: Violence broke out at Chingrihata connector on EM Bypass on Saturday morning after two college students, both teenaged boys, were run over by a speeding government bus.
Furious over the deaths, local residents attacked the killer bus (route no S30) alongwith other vehicles and went on rampage.
They also torched four buses including one of North Bengal State Transport Corporation and vandalised a goods vehicle, a private bus and a private car.
When a large contingent of police force led by three deputy commissioners of police of the Kolkata Police police rushed to the spot alongwith their counterparts of the Bidhannagar City Police, they were not spared also.
The mob pelted stones on the cops putting them on the back-foot initially.
As the situation span out of control, the police resorted to lathicharge and lobbed tear gas shells to disperse the agitators.
Traffic went out of gear on both flanks of EM Bypass leading to a massive traffic snarl till afternoon.
At around 11.30 am the duo: Biswajit Bhuiyan [19] and Sanjay Banu [19], the two friends travelling on a cycle, were passing through Chingrihata crossing.
Both were residents of nearby Naobhanga at Shanti Nagar off EM Bypass.
They were in a group who were returning after buying sweets from Beliaghata on the occasion of the marriage of the elder brother of Sayan, one of their friends.
While others already crossed the Chingrihata connector fast, Biswajit and Sanjay could not.
They were found on the cycle in the middle of the road when the signal turned green, according to preliminary investigation. The bus [WB 11A 5905] running at a high speed on its way to Karunamoyee in Salt Lake from Muchighata knocked down them. Both were crushed to death under its wheels.
They were declared brought dead at Nil Ratan Sircar Medical College and Hospital.
Agitated, a group of locals chased the bus and stopped it to unleash their fury on it. Traffic on both flanks came to a grinding halt. Passengers travelling in other buses and cars were in panic.
The bus-driver, Lakshman Samanta, was arrested, said K Sabari Rajkumar, deputy commissioner of police of the Bidhannagar City Police.
The accused was booked in a case at the Bidhannagar South police station under sections 279 and 304 of the Indian Penal Code.
The accident spot falls under the Bidhannagar City police jurisdiction. Local Trinamul MLA Sujit Bose visited the spot. He also met the families of the deceased duo and offered condolences to them. Mr Bose said, “The two victims’ families will be offered financial assistance.”
