Varanasi: A shocking incident took place on the Varanasi-Ghazipur highway on Wednesday evening, in which a cyclist was killed after being run over by a speeding car. Following the accident, angry villagers placed the body of the deceased on the highway, causing severe traffic jams of up to five kilometres.
This accident occurred near the Shahpur village in the Choubeypur police station area of Varanasi. Reports say that Nathoo Rajbhar, a local resident, was cycling when a car hit him from behind. As per the eyewitness reports, the driver did not stop the car; rather, he tried to leave the place, hitting Nathoo in the process.
The locals were quick to get together in trying to catch the driver, surrounding the car and confronting him. In the ongoing misunderstanding, many people came together, and some of them even hit the driver, but he eventually was able to slip away in the crowd’s stir. People feeling helpless about the car incidents turned to vandalism of the car and others parked around.
The Choubeypur police received information about the situation and called for more forces to restore the order. Even after their efforts to calm the crowd, things went even worse when the protestors started pelting stones at the police, during which over 10 police officers were injured. In addition to that, the mob also smashed and damaged over 15 vehicles during their rampage.
Nathoo was declared dead on the spot, making the villagers furious, and they protested violently against it. Some senior officials, including DCP Varuna Zone Chandrakant Meena and ADCP Varuna Saravanan T., came to the area to handle the circumstance and told the residents that strict measures would be taken.
After this event, the authorities have shown that they are in the process of filing a case against the driver who was responsible for Nathoo’s death. Moreover, they are also considering filing a legal case against the individuals who participated in the vandalism and stone-throwing during the protests.
This unfortunate incident brings to the forefront the neglected issues related to road safety and driver accountability in India as communities continue to battle similar cases everywhere in the country.