Kolkata Police have ordered traffic guards across the city to change drink-driving naka locations every night ahead of Durga Puja, following a multi-vehicle crash in Sinthi that severely injured a truck driver and damaged three vehicles.
The Lalbazar police headquarters has also instructed traffic guards to deploy one or two flying squads in addition to their two regular nakas. The squads will change locations and conduct checks for intoxicated riders and drivers, a Lalbazar officer told the Times of India.
The order follows a collision on Kalicharan Ghosh Road under Sinthi Police Station at around 11.40 pm on Monday. Police said the driver accused in the incident, Siddhanta Mukherjee, was driving in a heavily intoxicated condition when his car first crashed into a cab travelling in the opposite direction.
The force of that collision pushed the cab into another private car following behind. The front portions of all three cars were heavily damaged in the double crash. Md Irfan Qureshi, the driver of a truck involved in the impact, suffered serious injuries and was taken to R G Kar Medical College and Hospital, where he was undergoing treatment, according to the report.
The changing locations are intended to make drink-driving checks less predictable during the run-up to Durga Puja, when traffic volumes and late-night movement across Kolkata typically increase. The police statement, however, did not specify the number of additional checkpoints or the roads where the flying squads would be deployed.
The Sinthi case was registered after a suo-motu complaint by the police. Sinthi Police Station invoked sections 281, 125(b) and 324(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with sections 184 and 185 of the Motor Vehicles Act. The provisions cited include offences related to dangerous driving and driving under the influence of alcohol.
The traffic enforcement plan will operate alongside the regular nakas, with guards expected to rotate the additional squads between locations. The police order comes as the city prepares for the festival period and as authorities respond to the immediate road-safety consequences of the Sinthi collision.
