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Ludhiana: Kin of road mishap victim block traffic, demand arrest of accused
Traffic on Ludhiana–Ferozepur Road was halted for two hours due to a protest over police inaction following a fatal accident involving a woman.
Traffic on the Ludhiana–Ferozepur Road came to a standstill for nearly two hours on Monday afternoon after relatives of a 48-year-old woman who died in a road accident earlier this week staged a protest near the old octroi post, alleging police inaction in arresting the accused driver.
The protesters, mostly family members of the deceased, blocked the busy stretch demanding immediate action in the case. The blockade crippled vehicular movement on the road, leaving hundreds of vehicles stranded in kilometre-long queues on both sides and causing severe inconvenience to commuters.
The victim, Surinder Kaur, a resident of Baddowal, had been working as a security guard at a private hospital for the past 12 years.
According to her brother Gurtej Singh, the fatal accident occurred on March 5 when she was crossing the road outside the hospital. An overspeeding Toyota Innova allegedly struck her and dragged her body along the road, leading to her death. He said the entire incident was captured on CCTV cameras installed along the stretch.
Gurtej Singh alleged that despite informing the police and lodging a complaint soon after the incident, no concrete action had been taken. He claimed that the family had themselves helped the police trace the vehicle and its owner, but officials allegedly continued to delay the matter. “Despite making repeated visits to the police station, we received no assurance of prompt action, which forced us to block the road,” he said.
Family members added that the victim’s body has been kept in the hospital mortuary for the past four days and that they will not perform the last rites until the accused is arrested. They also said the victim’s son had recently returned from abroad and was about to meet his mother when the tragedy occurred.
Police officials later reached the spot and persuaded the protesters to clear the road after assuring them that appropriate action would be taken. The blockade was lifted after about two hours, restoring traffic movement on the busy route.
ASI Ajit Singh, who was present at the site, said the police had traced the first owner of the vehicle through its registration number. The owner, however, informed the police that he had already sold the vehicle to another person.
Police are now attempting to identify and trace the second owner and said the accused would be arrested soon.
