4 tea workers die as car hits their cycles in Alipurduar
Telegraph | 1 March 2026
Four women workers of a tea garden died and three others suffered grievous injuries as a car rammed into their cycles on Saturday morning near Bharnobari in Alipurduar.
Police said that as the Bharnobari tea estate had been closed since December 17, 2025, some workers would travel to neighbouring tea estates to work as casual labourers.
On Saturday morning, seven women workers of the garden were cycling to work on AH48 when a speeding car headed towards Jaigaon lost control and rammed into them. The impact affected all the women.
Four of them — Rajni Oraon, 33, Pushpa Dorji, 51, Augustina Munda, 39, and Bartha Dhanwar, 44 — died on the spot.
Residents rushed to the spot and alerted the police. The three injured women were shifted to different hospitals for advanced treatment — one to the Alipurduar District Hospital, another to the MJN Medical College and Hospital in Cooch Behar, and the third to the North Bengal Medical College and Hospital.
Cops managed to intercept the vehicle at GST More and arrested the driver.
As news spread, residents and tea garden workers from Bharnobari gathered at
the site.
Alleging negligence and highlighting the prolonged closure of the tea estate, the workers blocked AH48 from around 7am in protest.
They claimed that had the tea estate been operational, the women would not have been forced to cycle long distances for work and the accident might have been avoided.
Bishal Lama, the BJP MLA of Kalchini, trade union leaders and senior police officers reached the spot and spoke to the protesters, requesting them to withdraw the
blockade.
The agitators, however, refused to disperse, and despite the deployment of a large police force, the road remained blocked for nearly six hours. Hundreds of vehicles were stranded on both sides of the highway due to the agitation.
Around 1pm, Gopal Biswas, the deputy labour commissioner of Alipurduar, reached the spot and assured the protesters that steps would be taken to expedite the reopening of the tea garden and that the state government would compensate the bereaved families.
Then, the blockade was lifted. Traffic movement resumed soon after.
“It is an unfortunate incident. The car was speeding and dashed into the women workers. The driver has been arrested and the vehicle seized. We have initiated a probe,” said Abhishek Majumdar, the additional superintendent of police of Jaigaon.