70 booked for violent protest near LPG plant in Varanasi

Varanasi: On charges of attacking passersby and targeting trucks loaded with LPG cylinders near the Indane's bottling plant in Varanasi, following a youth's death in a road accident on Monday, as many as 70 protesters were booked for putting critical infrastructure to risk in FIR lodged by Badagaon police on Tuesday.

On Monday, Akash Singh, 19, of Sakra village in Jaunpur district came to Varanasi to attend his cousin's wedding at a hotel in Semalpur. He was on his way to his uncle's house in Chiuapur on a motorbike when his vehicle was hit by a truck carrying LPG cylinders, coming from the wrong side on the service lane. He fell on the road and was run over by the same truck. The driver fled with the truck into the LPG bottling plant.

Angry locals and passers-by gathered at the scene and vandalised vehicles after blocking the road. The furious crowd damaged more than six trucks. A heavy police force reached the spot from Badagaon and adjoining police stations. Badagaon police station in charge Atul Singh said a case was registered on complaint of Akash and further legal action was taken after seizure of the truck and sending the body for postmortem.

Later, FIR was lodged against 60-70 unidentified protesters for blocking the highway by placing the body on the road and holding a violent protest, damaging dozens of vehicles and targeting LPG cylinder-laden trucks, giving rise to risk of a massive explosion. The officials took serious note of the crowd attempting to force enter the LPG bottling plant.

DCP Gomati Zone Akash Patel said such actions pose severe threat to public safety and supply systems. DCP said, "Any death in road accident is unfortunate, but using such incidents to incite violence, block highways, unlawfully enter public and sensitive premises and disrupt law and order is absolutely unacceptable. A case has been filed against the violent crowd in this incident. In future too, if any person or group engages in such chaos, strict action will be taken against them."