Death of school boy sparks violence, 10 injured

LUCKNOW - At least 10 people were injured in a police baton charge Thursday after a mob indulged in arson and fought pitched battles with them when a teenaged boy was mowed down by a speeding truck in Uttar Pradesh’s Meerut district.

Demanding the arrest of the erring driver, the mob torched the truck, smashed window panes of other vehicles and targeted other property in Kharkhauda town, where the accident took place.

Fourteen-year-old Sanjay Kumar, a Class 10 student of B.D. Memorial School, was crushed to death by the truck while crossing a road.

“Additional security has been deployed in the area, taking into account the series of violent protests by the locals,” police inspector B.P. Singh told reporters in Meerut, some 350 km from here.

Even as Singh claimed that no one was seriously injured when police resorted to force to disperse the protesters, locals alleged that at least 10 people were injured in the incident.

“We had to use force to prevent the protesters from being unruly. We had no other option as they indulged in brick-batting and even tried to set afire police vehicles,” Singh said.

Police are yet to arrest the driver, who managed to escape after the accident.