Cops stop school bus with kids for 30 mins for poll requisition
Times of India | 25 April 2024
Kolkata: A school bus carrying students from The BSS School was stopped by traffic cops and the students were made to wait in the scorching afternoon heat for over 30 minutes near Dhalai Bridge on EM Bypass on Tuesday. The cops stopped the bus to verify documents before requisitioning it for election duty.
One of the concerned parents rushed to the spot upon coming to know about the situation.When one parent questioned why the checking couldn’t have been conducted after the students were dropped off, the sergeant allegedly responded rudely, saying that he didn’t need instructions on how to perform his duty.
“My daughter generally returns home by 4.15 pm. But when she did not reach home by then, I was anxious. The bus attendant called me up to say that police had stopped the bus to check documents. As it was detained for more than 25 minutes, I asked him whether I should pick her up from the spot. I was really apprehensive of the condition of students detained in the unbearable heatwave,” said Rajat Dutta, parent of one of the students.
“While I reached there I found that my daughter was feeling unwell. I inquired with the sergeant whether the requisition process could be postponed until after the students were dropped off. The sergeant responded rudely, instructing me not to interfere with his duties. This encounter left me perplexed and disappointed. While I have always held our city police in high regard, I found this behaviour to be both obnoxious and inhuman,” Dutta added. He picked up his daughter and another student, his neighbour.
A senior police officer said, “I have to find out who did this and under what circumstances before jumping to any conclusion.”
The students of classes IX to XII of the school are attending offline classes, while other students were doing it online.
School principal Sunita Sen said: “When it was stopped by the cops for the paperwork, there were two children on the bus — one is from class X and the other from class XI. It took time to do all the paperwork when one parent had called up the lady attendant who was there on the bus and they asked whether they would pick up the children. One parent came and took both the children as both stayed in nearby locations. After all the formalities, the bus returned to school.”
Most other schools, however, said this might have been a one-off case. Even if cops requisition, they just serve a notice and ask the vehicle to report with documents at a designated zone.