Excelsior Correspondent
-Excelsior/Rakesh
JAMMU, Nov 28: All the four traffic cops including District Traffic Inspector (DTI) were suspended and an enquiry initiated against them after a tragic accident at Bhagwati Nagar this morning in which one motorcycle borne youth died while another was seriously injured. The incident evoked massive protest in Bhagwati Nagar against the traffic police, as hundreds of youth, local residents and shopkeepers came on roads and blocked 4th Tawi Bridge for about 5-6 hours.
According to the reports, two motorcycle borne youth in high speed were advancing towards Bhagwati Nagar from Belicharna when one of the traffic cops hold the hand of the bike rider to stop him. As the bike was in high speed, the bike rider lost control over the vehicle and it got slipped. In the mishap, 23 years old Siddharth Mattoo son of Deepak Matoo, a resident of Talab Tillo, died on the spot while another youth namely Vishal Kumar Mancho, son of Vijay Kumar of Talab Tillo received serious injuries. However, it was not know who among the two youths were riding the vehicle.
The injured youth was immediately shifted to Government Medical College and Hospital, Jammu, for post mortem while the body of the dead youth was also shifted to mortuary room of the hospital for post mortem.
Immediately after the incident, people of nearby areas including youth from Science College came on roads in protest of the incident and disrupted traffic movement on 4th Tawi Bridge.
Traffic came to standstill on 4th Tawi Bridge, as despite hectic efforts by police, the protestors were not ready to disperse. The protestors were raising slogans against the traffic police and demanding the arrest of the traffic cops responsible for the incident. They alleged that one of the traffic cops on duty hold the hand of the youth who was riding the vehicle due to which he lost balance over the vehicle and it got slipped.
Later, senior police officers including SP City, Shiv Kumar Chauhan, SSP Traffic, Mohan Lal, SHO Nowabad, Karan Chalotra and Naib Tehsildar, Jammu North, visited the spot and pacify the protestors by assuring that appropriate action would be taken against the traffic cops that were on duty at naka point. On the assurances of senior police officers, the protests dispersed late in the evening.
When contacted, SSP Traffic, Mohan Lal told that an FIR under RPC 175, 278, 337 and 304A RPC had already been registered at police station, Nowabad and all the four traffic cops on duty including DTI, Inspector Kulbir Singh, Constable Mustaq Ahmed, Constable Parvinder Singh and Constable Girdhari Lal have been suspended and an inquiry has been initiated into the matter. The vehicle being used by the traffic cops has also been seized.
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