ROAD MISHAP

11 of 27 cattle in sealed container killed in road mishap

COOCH BEHAR, March 2: Eleven cattle have been killed in a road accident that happened on National Highway-31 at Rajarhat area near Cooch Behar town at early hours of today. Police started a probe to know why the cattle were being transported in a closed container.

The incident occurred at about 3-30 a.m. A large container was going along NH-31 towards Assam. The vehicle with registration number of Haryana came from Buxar in Uttar Pradesh. It was going to Gouripur in Assam. It is believed that at Rajarhat area the driver of the vehicle lost control on the driving wheel due to the damaged road and the speeding vehicle skidded away from the road. Hearing the thundering sound locals rushed to the spot and saw the ill-fated vehicle. As they heard noise from within the locked container they broke open it and found at their dismay that there was a number of large sized cattle in it. A few of the bullocks ran away but the villagers caught 11. It was found that 11 bullocks in the container out of total 27 have been died.

There were six persons in the vehicle including the driver. The driver however fled away after the accident. Another seriously injured one was shifted to MJN Hospital in Cooch Behar town. One Mahadiram, allegedly a middleman of cattle, said, the vehicle was coming from Baxar in Uttar Pradesh. He and the others denied their connection with the cattle sealed inside the container. They claimed that they boarded the vehicle from Panjipara to go to Gouripur in Assam.

Cooch Behar SP, Mr DP Singh said police started a probe into the incident. How a closed container was used in transporting the cattle is also under investigation, he added.

Locals alleged that transporting of cattle and many other things being done regularly concealed in containers. From outside it is impossible to guess what these containers are carrying, they said.

The villagers also said that the NH-31 at Rajarhat area got severely damaged but no step was taken to repair it. Accidents happened several times in this place and locals staged demonstrations and roadblockades too. The authorities promised immediate measures but nothing was done till now, they alleged. Today, they abstained from organising a roadblock due to the ongoing Madhyamik examination, a senior villager added.