CUDDALORE: Villagers blocked the Cuddalore-Panruti road on Tuesday after a private bus fatally knocked down a 13-year-old school boy. The angry mob also damaged the bus. The victim’s father, who also sustained injuries in the accident, is undergoing treatment at the Cuddalore GH.
Sources identified the victim as Ashwin (13), son of Murugan of Keezhkavarapattu village and a class VII student of a government school in Anna Gramam.
On Tuesday morning, Murugan and Ashwin went to the nearby Mel Kavarapattu village on a two-wheeler. When they were sitting on the bike after parking it on the roadside, a private bus plying towards Cuddalore from Panruti rammed them.
Both Murugan and Ashwin were thrown off the bike. The boy died on the spot while a grievously injured Murugan was rushed to the Government Cuddalore Hospital for treatment.
Local villagers, who gathered at the spot, damaged the bus. Later, hundreds of villagers blocked the Cuddalore-Panruti road.
On information, Cuddalore RDO Uma Maheswari and Panruti DSP Elango rushed to the spot and held peace talks with the protestors. The officials assured the protesters that they would set up speed breakers at the spot and would widen the road soon. Based on the assurances, the villagers withdrew their protest and dispersed from the spot.
Owing to the protest, traffic movement on the Cuddalore-Panruti road was affected for more than two hours.