BHUBANESWAR:Exposing the poor response time of police to road accidents, the body of a man, who was crushed to death by a speeding truck at Bamphakuda near Phulnakahara within Cuttack Sadar police limits on Saturday late night, lay on the national highway for nearly an hour before PCR vehicle personnel turned up at the spot.
Locals said the man, who is yet to be identified, was reportedly crossing the road when a speeding truck hit him. He died on the spot. While two persons gave a chase to the fleeing truck on a motorcycle, others tried to contact the police but to no avail.
A local alleged that though several calls were made to the landline number of Sadar Police Station, no one picked up the phone. Subsequently, locals informed the 108 ambulance service about the accident. An ambulance soon arrived at the spot but refused to receive the body citing it to be a police case.One of the ambulance staff said they can receive persons who are injured but not dead. “We are waiting here for the police to arrive for the last 30 minutes. But the cops are yet to turn up,” said the ambulance staff.
Risking their lives, some locals stood on the road with torches to alert the speeding heavy vehicles about the accident. Following several attempts, the police station was contacted and a PCR vehicle arrived at the spot after at least 40 minutes. The PCR vehicle personnel informed the National Highways Authority of India’s (NHAI) ambulance about the accident.
On being asked about the reason for their delay, the PCR vehicle personnel said they reached the spot as soon as they were informed about the accident by Sadar Police.The cops said they have to cover over 25 km while patrolling in areas under Cuttack Sadar police limits in two PCR vehicles. “There are times when two PCR vehicles patrol in remote places and it takes times to return back to the city areas,” said one of the PCR vehicle personnel.Meanwhile, ACP Suvendu Kumar Sinha said he will verify whether the police action was delayed and take further steps accordingly.