This story is from August 12, 2020

Kolkata: Car rams guard rails, close shave for cops in Red Road 2016 rerun

In an almost repeat of the security breach during the Republic Day parade rehearsals at Red Road four years ago, a car driven by a youth rammed into a railing early on Tuesday morning, minutes before the Independence Day parade rehearsals were to commence on Red Road.
Kolkata: Car rams guard rails, close shave for cops in Red Road 2016 rerun
Accused Aritra Sanyal (in black)
KOLKATA: In an almost repeat of the security breach during the Republic Day parade rehearsals at Red Road four years ago, a car driven by a youth rammed into a railing early on Tuesday morning, minutes before the Independence Day parade rehearsals were to commence on Red Road.
At 6.35am on Tuesday, a speeding blue sedan with a 20-year-old youth behind the wheel, smashed the guard rails put up to prevent vehicular traffic during the rehearsals.
The accident took place as the car, which was approaching from Kidderpore Road, was about to take a right turn towards Park Street in front of Fort Williams’ east gate.
accid

The accident brought back the memories of then 2016 accident in which Sambia Sohrab, a youth driving his Audi, drove into a marching contingent on Red Road, killing an Air Force personnel during the parade rehearsal. Last year too, a 21-year-old youth driving a car had broken the traffic prohibition and entered Queensway, Lover’s Lane and Kidderpore Road, a day before the Republic day parade, before cops intercepted him.
On Tuesday, Aritra Sanyal, the 20-year-old journalism student and a resident of Bondel Gate, said he had left his home with his mother’s car and had planned for a quick drive around the city and return home. “He said he didn’t know about the traffic restrictions on Red Road and had missed the prohibition signs. We have booked the youth for rash and negligent driving. But thankfully, no one was injured in the accident,” said a senior officer of Kolkata Police.

The rehearsals on Red Road was scheduled to start from 7am but cops start positioning more than one-and-a-half hours before the start. Cops has placed guard rails along the median divider and the start of Red Road to ensure smooth a rehearsal for the Kolkata Police officers of various departments participating in the parade. Witnesses said the car came at a high speed from Casuarina Avenue, brushed past police van bus stationed parallel to road, slipped through a gap between two parked vehicles before crashing into the guard rails.
“A group of policemen had just come out of the bus, stood outside for sometime before they had moved to another part of the road. Had the accident happened five minutes before, it could have been catastrophic,” said an officer who was stationed at the spot.
According to police, the youth looked shocked when he was brought out of the car. He was shortly arrested and his car was seized. Sanyal was booked under bailable IPC sections 279 (rash driving) and 427 (damage caused by mischief). Police didn’t oppose his bail plea when he was produced before a city court and he was released later in the evening. Cops added the youth had got his driving licence around eight months back.
However, after the accident, vigil was tightened along the road as the rehearsals — delayed by 15 minutes at 7.15am — began under cops posted around the guard rails and the vehicle restriction points away from the rehearsal site, manually diverting vehicles to other routes.
Owing to the pandemic, the scale of the Independence Day parade ceremony has been curtailed to a 25-minute affair this year with a flag-hoisting ceremony in presence of chief minister Mamata Banerjee and other senior officials of the state, handful of police contingents taking part in the parade maintaining social distancing protocols and a small cultural function followed by felicitation of Covid warriors. The programme will start at 9.50am and will be over by 10.15am.
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