Three Bengal transport buses torched after student dies in accident, four arrested

An agitated mob ransacked North Bengal State Transport Corporation buses and set three of them on fire after a school girl was crushed by a state-run bus. Traffic was blocked for more than two hours.

Three state transport buses were set on fire and several more ransacked by a mob in Jalpaiguri district of West Bengal after a 17-year-old girl was run over by a North Bengal State Transport Corporation (NBSTC) bus on Saturday morning.

Three state transport corporation buses were torched in West Bengal after a bus ran over a school girl near Jalpaiguri Town.(HT PHOTO/File/Representational)

Raninagar residents, Trisha Chakraborty, a class 12 student, and her brother Rishabh, were riding a scooty, when hit by a Siliguri-bound bus which was trying to overtake the two-wheeler during a traffic logjam at Mohit Nagar, when the railway-level-crossing gate closed.

Both fell on the road, Trisha was run over and died on the spot. Rishabh was rushed to a government hospital in Jalpaiguri. Police said he was stable. The NBSTC driver fled the spot and was absconding till Saturday evening.

Trisha was a student of Rani Nagar High School and was to appear for her higher secondary examinations.

Immediately after the accident, a mob ransacked NBSTC buses and set three of them on fire. A large number of policemen and Rapid Action Force reached the spot to disperse the mob. Traffic was blocked for more than two hours.

Shrikant J Yeilwad, additional superintendent of police (head quarters), said four persons had been arrested for the arson. “We have launched search operations to arrest the other trouble makers,” he added.

At 1 pm, Abhishek Modi, superintendent of police, Jalpaiguri said, “The situation is under control.”

The incident happened a day after another student was mowed down at Pagliganj under the Gangarampur police station in the adjoining South Dinajpur district.

The state government lost several buses during last month’s unrest in the state against the amended citizenship law.