Truck Strikes Adhir Chowdhury’s Escort Vehicle: Election Commission Demands Inquiry
Synopsis
Key Takeaways
Kolkata, April 8 (NationPress) A truck collided with the escort vehicle of Adhir Chowdhury, the Congress candidate for the Baharampur Assembly constituency, on Wednesday evening while he was returning from Kandi to Berhampore in the Murshidabad district.
The Election Commission has requested a report regarding this incident.
Fortunately, Chowdhury escaped the accident unscathed. The collision occurred as he was returning from a campaign event in Kandi. The vehicle was carrying Chowdhury’s security personnel.
Ketan Jaiswal, the chairman of the media department who was also in the vehicle, sustained injuries.
The Congress party has criticized the police for their lack of assistance, even after help was requested.
According to leaders from the Congress party, their prominent candidate must traverse various regions of the state for election campaigning.
Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury had visited Kandi for campaigning on Wednesday.
The accident transpired when a truck lost control and struck the escort vehicle, causing damage to the rear end of the car.
Congress members claimed there was no police support following the crash, stating that the Inspector in Charge of the Kandi police station did not arrive at the scene even after 20 minutes.
Supporters of the Congress party reported that Chowdhury’s vehicle was directly behind the security vehicle that was hit by the truck, allowing him to narrowly evade harm.
In light of this incident, the Election Commission has urgently sought a report to assess whether there were any shortcomings in the security arrangements for such a high-profile candidate.
It is important to note that central security was increased for Adhir Chowdhury shortly after he encountered protests from a faction of Trinamool Congress workers during his campaign in Berhampore.
Previously, Chowdhury received ‘Y Plus’ central security while serving as an MP, accompanied by five security personnel. Despite his defeat in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, the Centre maintained his security detail.
Following this latest update, the count of ‘Y Plus’ personnel has been raised from five to ten. Alongside central security, Adhir also has two state police constables assigned to him.
Five additional personnel were deployed on Tuesday.