BEd-TET protesters disrupt traffic movement for hours

LUCKNOW: Hundreds of BEd-TET candidates gave a hard time to commuters on Wednesday when they staged a sit-in on the road outside Eco Garden near Geeta Palli in Alambagh. The candidates had gathered near the garden to press for the demands for their appointment.

However, around 3.45pm, a group of 100 protesters came out on the road towards Geeta Palli and blocked the route for more than 30 minutes. The police force deployed had to struggle with them, causing disruption in the traffic movement on Bangla Bazaar Road. Its cascading effect was also witnessed on VIP Road. The traffic jam continued till 5pm.

The police resorted to lathicharge to control the mob, triggering greater chaos on road, disturbing the movement of vehicles. Roadways buses, autorickshaws and people returning home were the worst sufferers.

"I had to deliver a parcel in Geeta Palli Colony and suddenly saw people running on roads helter-skelter, one of them even came in front of my bike," said Shadab Hasan. For Antariksh Verma, who was going home in Bangla Bazaar, took one hour to reach from Jail Road. "Normally it takes 10 minutes," said Verma.

ASP (east) Sarvesh Mishra said the protesters were restricted inside Eco Park but some of them tried to come out and block the road following which mild force was used to push them inside. He said the police force remained deployed at the protest site almost for eight hours to ensure no inconvenience was caused to the common man.