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Protesting truckers resort to stone-pelting in Mainpuri, no one hurt
A handful of truck drivers were lodging jam on Safai – Karhal bypass on Tuesday afternoon. Police reached the spot and attempted to remove the jam.
Agra: The ongoing protest against the proposed stringent legal provision in hit-and-run cases on roads turned violent on Tuesday when the protestors, mostly drivers, resorted to stone pelting on Agra-Lucknow Expressway under Karhal police station limits in Mainpuri district .
Police used force to disperse the unruly mob and restored the traffic on the 302-kilometre- long Expressway connecting Agra and Lucknow. Police denied any firing incident and claimed that stone pelting was for few minutes only and had no impact on traffic.
“A handful of truck drivers were lodging jam on Safai – Karhal bypass on Tuesday afternoon. Police reached the spot and attempted to remove the jam. The agitated protestors moved towards the service road of Agra Lucknow Expressway and threw stones on the main expressway,” said Vinod Kumar, superintendent of police, Mainpuri.
“The stone pelting lasted a few minutes which caused jam on the expressway for some time. Police used force to disperse the truck drivers and got the traffic restored,” he said .
‘There was no major traffic disruption on Agra-Lucknow Expressway, nor was any vehicle damaged. No one was injured in the chaos,” said the SP, denying any firing on the spot.
Later, extra police force was deployed in Mainpuri after SDM Gopal Sharma, circle officer (Karhal) Chandrakesh Singh and SHO Karhal Kushal Pal Singh reached the spot .
Meanwhile, both Agra and Aligarh divisions remained affected because of protest by truck and bus drivers . There were long queues at petrol pumps.
The glass industry in Firozabad was adversely affected because of the strike . The stocks piled up in factories of bangles and other glass items while there was emerging crisis of raw material required in the glass industry.
Regional manager of UPSRTC BP Agarwal claimed that 60 % of roadways buses were operating in Agra and Mathura districts on Tuesday in sharp contrast to Monday when only 20% buses were on roads.
“Those protesting are not aware of the facts and we have appealed to the drivers on strike to trust the district administration about their security if they move on roads. Confusion seems to be prevailing as laws are yet to be enforced and thus we assure the drivers that no harm will be caused to them,” said Agarwal.
Joint spokesperson for All India Motor Transport Congress Virendra Gupta justified the anger among truck operators and drivers. A meeting was organised in Agra on Tuesday.
“The latest changes in Motor Vehicles Act, as presented by the union home minister in the Lok Sabha, are arbitrary and unjustified. Any driver moving away from spot after anyone injured in road accident will now be liable for imprisonment of 10 years and will have to pay ₹7 lakh as penalty, according to new law as proposed. This will cause hardships to drivers,” said Gupta.
“We have urged the President of India to not give her consent to the latest changes in law for hit-and-run cases,” he said .
The common people too appeared concerned about the ongoing strike and home makers were apprehensive of price rise if the strike continued .
