Cops leave bleeding accident victim to die on BT Road

KOLKATA: Policemen left a man dying on BT Road on Thursday morning and “fled” the scene of an accident, rebuffing pleas to help carry him to hospital. The 56-year-old victim died two hours later.
It was the overzealousness of the police that led to the accident in the first place, say eyewitnesses.
“We pleaded with the policemen but they claimed there was no space in their vehicle,” said eyewitness Suman Das.“They refused to use their wireless to summon an ambulance and wouldn’t even help us flag down a vehicle. It was inhuman. How can policemen behave like this?”
The higher-ups at Lalbazar police headquarters have taken the incident very seriously. Commissioner of police Gautam Mohan Chakrabarti has ordered an inquiry by the DC North and disciplinary action is likely, say highly placed sources.
Around 11.30am, a radio flying squad of Kolkata Police chased down a white Ambassador (WB20B 9244), forcing it to stop outside 39 BT Road (opposite Calcutta University’s Kantakol campus). The car had a single passenger with piles of printed material by his side. The sergeant in the police jeep allegedly wanted to see the papers of the car and then demanded a ‘fine’, claiming that a private car was being used as a transport vehicle. Ideally, this is a job for Kolkata Police’s traffic department. But locals allege that policemen on law and order duty regularly surpass their domain and target erring motorists.
“We saw the man pacing back and forth between the police jeep and his car. He was trying to convince the sergeant that he was an employee of a printing house and did not carry much cash. Around 11.40am, he got back into his car but the sergeant summoned him yet again. In a huff, the man threw open the right rear door of the car. A motorcycle approaching from behind smashed into the door,” said Gautam Das of Raj Art Centre, the shop in front of which the drama was unfolding.
While Swapan Khatua, who was riding the bike, escaped with minor injuries, pillion rider Nimai Ghosh was thrown so hard that his helmet broke into pieces as his head hit the ground.
The policemen, worried that the crowd would turn on them, ran back to the jeep. Das and some locals pleaded with them to help carry Ghosh to hospital but the policemen would not wait. Finally, locals and CU students flagged down a taxi and took him to RG Kar Hospital where he died around 1.30pm.
“Under different circumstances, the occupant of the car would have certainly checked before opening the door. Here, he was being harassed by the police officer. He was repeatedly told to go back to his car and called back to the police jeep the next moment. He was clearly disturbed. Such harassment by the police has become common in this area,” said Soumen Mandi, an eyewitness. Police have started a case of negligence against the driver and occupant of the Ambassador. Locals have lodged a complaint that RFS teams are illegally collecting money from vehicles on BT Road.
“We have received complaints that a wireless van left the accident spot without tending to the injured man. We shall inquire into the matter. It is a policeman’s job to ensure that an injured person is taken to hospital. We have not received any complaints that the policemen were trying to extort money from the occupant of the car,” said joint CP(HQ) Jawed Shamim. “We can confirm whether the police team demanded a bribe only after we track down the driver and passenger of the car,” said an investigator.