Kolkata: Caught in row with promoter, mini bus services curtailed

KOLKATA: Daily commuters of a Kasba-Howrah minibus route have been facing a harrowing time over the past two days due to a dispute between a local promoter and bus owners, both sides laying a claim to the bus stand. Even as many services on the route were suspended and some buses ran on a curtailed route, an FIR was registered at the local police station.
With heaps and sand and debris being dumped at the entrance of their designated P Majumder mini bus stand allegedly by a promoter since May 5, 10 buses on the route could not be operated on Thursday, Manik Haldar, president of the Kasba Rathtala-Howrah Minibus Operators’ Association, claimed to TOI. “While the process of stopping our buses from entering the stand started silently, it took a major turn since Monday, when many of the vehicles were requisitioned for election duty in Hooghly. When those buses returned early on Tuesday, those could not enter the stand as at least five trucks full of debris and sand were dumped right at the entrance. We were forced to alert the police, who advised us to lodge a complaint,” said Haldar. While 10 buses on the route operate from the P Majumdar stand, 15 operate from two other stands at Sapuipara. “The services were suspended on Tuesday, partly also due to the fact that most of our drivers were tired after their poll duty. But we may have to suspend services if the stand remains blocked even on Wednesday,” claimed Haldar.
For Kanchan Mukhopadhyay, a banker who takes the mini bus to commute to Howrah every day, travelling to Sapuipara would mean additional time. “The route is our lifeline and we want the cops to probe the case,” he said, adding a public space could not be used to dump sand. “It seems there is a bigger conspiracy.”
While the police said an inquiry was on to ascertain the plot’s ownership, the accused mentioned in the FIR could not be contacted by TOI. His aides claimed the bus stand itself was illegal and that they had left construction material at the spot even earlier.
“This case was recorded on the basis of a letter of complaint submitted by Halder. Some time before midnight on May 7, the accused named in the FIR left sand and debris in front of the P Majumder mini bus stand in such a manner that obstructed the movement of the mini buses to and from the stand. The debris and sand also wrongfully restrained the movement of the staff and passengers,” stated the FIR at the Garfa police station stated. The cops have registered the case under IPC sections 283 (danger or obstruction in public life) and 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint).