E-Paper
6-year-old girl crushed by school van in Ludhiana: Protest enters Day 2, kin seek arrest of principal
A Class 1 student at BCM Senior Secondary School, Sector 32, Chandigarh Road, Ludhiana, Amaira Sood, was crushed by a school van on Monday right after she got off the same vehicle, which did not have an attendant present
Protests continued near the Division Number 7 police station a day after a six-year-old girl was crushed by a school van on campus, officials aware of the developments said.
The protesters, including the minor’s parents and kin, pushed for the arrest of DP Guleria, the principal of BCM Senior Secondary School, where the incident occurred, and other members of the management.
They also demanded that additional sections, including those of evidence tampering, be added to the first-information report (FIR).
A Class 1 student at BCM Senior Secondary School, Sector 32, Chandigarh Road, Amaira Sood, was crushed by a school van on Monday right after she got off the same vehicle, which did not have an attendant present.
On Monday, a case was registered against Guleria, members of the school management and Simranjit Singh, the van driver.
Police arrested Singh soon after the incident.
On Tuesday, the victim’s kin alleged that police have booked the accused only under bailable sections. The protesters raised slogans against the police.
The protesting kin did not allow the police get a post-mortem conducted on the body and said they will not cremate the body till police arrest all the accused involved.
The police officials held a meeting with the family members in the evening and tried to pacify them.
Assistant commissioner of police (ACP East) Sumit Sood said police have already arrested the van driver, who was produced before a local court on Tuesday and remanded to two days for questioning.
The ACP added that the family has resentment and they are trying to pacify them. He confirmed that the family has not allowed the police to get a post-mortem done.
The case registered by the Division Number 7 police on Monday included sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 238 (causing disappearance of evidence) and 61 (criminal conspiracy) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). The case was registered following a complaint by Anurag Sood, the victim’s father.
Road safety council member writes to minister Pradhan
National Road Safety Council member Kamal Soi wrote a letter to Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan, stating the traffic police and Regional Transport Authority are ‘least concerned’ about implementing Safe School Vahan Policy.
The policy requires schools to maintain records of transportation systems, including registration numbers and driver details. Schools must ensure the vehicles have safety features such as cameras, emergency doors and first-aid kits.
Colonel (retd) Jasjit Singh Gill, ex-member of task force on Buddha Darya Rejuvenation Project, wrote to chief minister Bhagwant Mann, seeking directions to install cameras on school vans.
