Kanwariyas block highway after car hits fellow trekker

A large group of Kanwariyas was on its way from Phaphamau in Prayagraj to Pratapgarh to offer Ganga water at Baba Belkhar Nath temple on the banks of Sai river when the incident took place.

PRAYAGRAJ: A Kanwariya was injured in a road accident on the busy Pratapgarh-Prayagraj highway on Saturday morning. Upset over the incident, a large number of other Kanwariyas created ruckus and blocked the busy highway for around three hours. This resulted in a large traffic jam near Dadauli intersection under Soraon police station, around 30 km from Sangam city in trans-Ganga region of the district, informed police officials.

Upset Kanwariyas staging a road blockade on the busy Prayagraj-Pratapgarh highway on Saturday morning. (HT)

Senior police officers rushed to the spot and after hours of persuasion and confirming that the injured Kanwariya was out of danger, managed to get the road blockade lifted, they added.

As per information, a large group of Kanwariyas was on its way from Phaphamau in Prayagraj to Pratapgarh to offer Ganga water at Baba Belkhar Nath temple on the banks of Sai river when the incident took place. A car coming at high speed brushed one of the Kanwariyas, identified as Shivam Singh (13) of Pratapgarh . The car driver fled the scene with the vehicle as the boy with minor injuries was rushed to hospital for treatment.

Upset over the incident, hundreds of Kanwariyas staged a road blockade and demanded action against the errant car driver.

ACP Shailendra Singh said that on the complaint of the injured boy’s kin, an FIR had been registered against the unidentified car driver. “We are using CCTV footage to identify the car driver and he would be nabbed soon,” he added.