Kolkata Police clamp down on army truck a day after TMC stage standoff

Tension flared in the heart of Kolkata on Tuesday, 2 September, when a routine army truck ride turned dramatic, as the vehicle allegedly swerved perilously close to the convoy of police commissioner Manoj Verma, prompting traffic cops to halt it in the city’s high-security zone.

The episode unfolded near the stately Writers’ Buildings in BBD Square, a stone’s throw from Lalbazar — the nerve centre of Kolkata Police. Officials said the army truck, rolling out of Fort William, the Eastern Command’s bastion, was bound for the passport office when it rumbled uncomfortably close to the commissioner’s convoy.

“Despite repeated instructions to slow down, the army truck continued driving in a dangerous manner. At that point, the vehicle was stopped,” said a senior traffic police officer. The police commissioner was reportedly on his way to Lalbazar at the time.

The truck was halted outside St. Andrew’s Church in BBD Bagh. Army personnel inside informed their higher officials about the incident. “We slowed down while taking a turn, but the police claimed we were driving dangerously since several vehicles, including the police commissioner’s cars, were behind us. We were stopped and taken to a police station. The matter has been reported to our seniors,” said a jawan traveling in the truck.

Later, officers from Hare Street Police Station reached the spot and seized the vehicle, which was then taken to the station.

The development comes a day after chief minister Mamata Banerjee accused the Centre of “misusing” the army, following an incident where jawans dismantled a stage erected by the Trinamool Congress near the Gandhi statue in the Maidan. The army, which controls the Maidan area, began removing the stage but halted the process after Mamata Banerjee rushed to the spot and objected.

With IANS inputs