Public block M'lore-Moodbidri road for 5 hours

A road accident that claimed the life of a school going boy, resulted in a severe protest staged by the angered villagers who blocked the Mangalore-Moodbidri road at Gurupura for more than five hours on Thursday.

On Thursday morning at around 8.25 am, Rohith (7) along with his mother was walking by the roadside when a speeding lorry carrying fish hit him.

Immediately, a bystander Rafeek from Gurupur carried the seriously injured Rohith to a private hospital in Mangalore.

The boy succumbed to injuries at the hospital. Rohith is the son of Rajendra Poojary and Jyothi, residents of Gurupura and he was a student of Pompei English Medium School at Kaikamba.

The lorry driver fled from the spot after the accident. The incident created wrath among the people of Gurupura who blocked the road and staged protest against the administration.

The protesters alleged that the narrow road at Gurupura has become highly dangerous and has turned out to be an accident spot. Despite several accidents occurring in Gurupura, the administration has not taken any action to widen the road, they said.

The protesters were also upset over the late arrival of the police at the spot, which added fuel to the fire. Though the accident occurred at 8.25 am and Bajpe police were immediately informed, the police came for inspection after an hour.

An angered protesters took the police into task for arriving late.

Demand

Meanwhile, they blocked the road and demanded the deputy commissioner and police commissioner to visit the place, failing which they warned of not withdrawing the protest.

As the DC did not turn up even in the afternoon, they gheraoed Bajpe police station Inspector Narasimha Murthy.

Later, Mangalore Tahsildar arrived at the protesting spot and tried to calm down the agitators. His attempts went in vain.

They calmed down and withdrew the protest only after the visit of Gurupura Vajradehi Mutt seer Rajashekharananda Swami who requested them to stop the agitation.

The crowd withdrew the protest after Tahsildar assured them of constructing humps on the road and to appoint a constable within 15 days.

The protesters also demanded for the widening of the road and construct a footpath, for which the tahsildar agreed of taking up the work after monsoon.

The crowd also vent their ire against MLA Mohiudeen Bava who did not pay a courtesy visit even though the protest lasted for half a day.

Initially Bava’s mobile phone was not reachable, and later though it rang, he did not pick it, they alleged.

Series of accidents

The Gurupura stretch has witnessed several accidents in the recent past. A woman died and one was injured as a bullet tanker hit them on December 26, 2013.

In another mishap that occurred this April, a youth and a girl child died and two were injured after a tipper rammed them. In an accident between a jeep and a scooter, a four year old boy had died last month.