Kolkata Police on Tuesday intercepted a military truck for alleged reckless driving, a day after the army dismantled a stage erected by the ruling Trinamool Congress to protest alleged atrocities on Bengali-speaking migrant workers in BJP-ruled states.
A case of dangerous driving was filed against the army personnel driving the truck, a senior officer of Kolkata Traffic Police said.
The incident took place around 11 am in front of the Writers' Buildings, the previous state secretariat.
"The vehicle was moving at such a high speed that it could have led to a major accident while negotiating a turn. Kolkata Police commissioner Manoj Verma's vehicle was behind the truck," the officer said.
A CCTV footage released by Kolkata Police, capturing the sequence of events leading to the moment when traffic officials stopped the truck, showed the army vehicle slowing down at the Writers' Buildings traffic signal on the left flank of BBD Bag North Road, from where it made a sudden attempt to swerve right towards the south.
A lot of misinformation is being circulated from certain quarters regarding action taken by police over an incident of violation of traffic rules.
— Kolkata Police (@KolkataPolice) September 2, 2025
It's apparently clear from the CCTV footage that the truck in question was being driven in dangerous manner violating the traffic… pic.twitter.com/LcFwAuguwU
In the process, the truck narrowly missed hitting Verma's car, which was following the army vehicle and overtook it sharply from the right side at the signal in its bid to avoid an accident.
Police personnel managing traffic at the busy intersection were then seen running towards the truck and stopping it for violating traffic signs at the crossing, where vehicles are not allowed to take a right turn from the left flank of the road.
According to the army officials, the truck was headed from Fort William, the army's Eastern Command headquarters in Kolkata, to the Passport Office on Brabourne Road near BBD Bag, the city's central business district.
The truck, carrying two army personnel, was later escorted to Hare Street police station, the officer said, adding that a case has been registered against the driver under the Motor Vehicles Act for dangerous driving.
Officers from Fort William also reached the police station to speak to the police about the incident. Army officials, however, denied any wrongdoing, stating that the vehicle was stopped by police just as it was taking a turn near the Writers' Buildings. They maintained that no traffic rules were violated.
Later, talking to the media, Kolkata Police DC Traffic, YS Jagannathrao said that the matter should not be seen as an issue between the "police versus army".
He said that the army truck, before taking a wrong lane in front of the Writers' Buildings, had violated the traffic signal from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) juncture.
"The matter should not be seen as anything between the police and the army. This is one of the many cases of traffic that we witness in the city. This is basically a violation of traffic rules, negligence and rash driving. Our priority is the safety of those on city roads," the IPS officer said.
He emphasised that the number of accidents on Kolkata roads has decreased since last year.
Another senior officer said that the police want to maintain a zero-tolerance policy regarding reckless driving.
Less than 24 hours ago, dramatic scenes were witnessed in the city, not far from the site of Tuesday's alleged traffic violation incident, after army officials dismantled a Trinamool Congress dharna platform at the base of the Mahatma Gandhi Statue on Mayo Road, an area owned and administered by the defence forces, on grounds that the party had overshot its permission tenure.
Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee rushed to the spot and accused the BJP of "misusing the Indian Army" to push its agenda of "vendetta politics" against the TMC.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
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