Road rage: SP injured as mob attacks police

CHENNAI: The death of a 40-year-old woman in an accident on GST Road (NH45) near Chengalpet on Saturday night triggered a violent protest by angry locals who hurled stones at policemen and attacked a bus in a two-and-a-half-hour collapse of law and order that halted traffic on the highway till midnight.
Kancheepuram superintendent of police Santosh Hadimani and two police constables injured.

Residents from neighbourhoods nearby quickly gathered at the spot after a Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation bus heading from Tindivanam to Chennai smashed a motorcycle at 9.30pm, a police officer said.

"Pushparaj, 45, a construction worker from Peramanur in Chengalpet, his wife and son were returning home after going out shopping when the accident took place," the officer said.

"A bus hit them from behind and knocked them down. Lavanya, who was riding pillion, sustained severe head injuries and died on the spot. Pushparaj and the couple's son, Nishanth, 10, were injured," he said. "We rushed them to Chengalpet Government Hospital."

Some of the locals turned violent and attacked the bus. When the police arrived, they were outnumbered.

Officers tried to placate the mob but the protesters turned on the policemen, hurling boulders and stones at them. They broke the windowpanes of the bus, causing the occupants to flee for their safety.

The police finally used force to disperse the protesters. SP Hadimani, bleeding from an injury to the head, continued to lead the policemen as they dispersed the crowd and tried to restore the traffic flow on the stretch.

Also injured in the fracas were policemen Senthil and Tamilvanan and 20 bystanders. "It took time to establish normalcy and get vehicles moving on the highway," the officer said, estimating that more than 1,000 people blocked the highway in protest until midnight."

A large body of policemen arrived ahead of midnight and took up positions along the stretch to prevent further violence, even as the protesters refused to let officers remove the body, demanding stringent action against motorists speeding on the stretch.

The police registered a case against the bus driver, who abandoned the vehicle and escaped.

On Sunday morning, they arrested 12 people for rioting, preventing the police from discharging their duty and for damaging government property.