Tinsukia: Traffic was disrupted on Assam’s Makum–Digboi stretch of NH-38 on Thursday after local residents and members of the All Tea Tribes Students’ Association (ATTSA) blocked the highway, demanding compensation for the families of two tea garden workers killed in a road accident and the arrest of the driver who allegedly fled the scene.
The protest followed a head-on collision between a Bajaj NS 125 motorcycle and a Tata 709 vehicle carrying green tea leaves near Anandabag Balijan under Digboi Police Station on Wednesday.
The victims, identified as Nathu Karmakar (26) and Ajay Kalandi (30) of Line No. 7, Anandabag Tea Estate, died on the spot.
Police sent the bodies to Tinsukia Medical College and Hospital for post-mortem examination.
The protesters placed the bodies on the highway, raised slogans and blocked traffic for several hours. They demanded compensation for the victims’ families, the immediate arrest of the absconding driver and a fair investigation into the accident. They also accused the authorities of failing to ensure road safety.
The blockade caused long queues of vehicles on both sides of the highway as police tried to persuade the protesters to end the demonstration.
Senior police officials later held talks with ATTSA leaders and local residents. They assured them that efforts were underway to trace and arrest the driver and that the investigation would proceed as per the law.
The protesters lifted the blockade after the assurance.
Police have registered a case and launched an investigation. Efforts are continuing to recover the damaged motorcycle from beneath the Tata 709 vehicle and trace the driver, who allegedly fled the scene after the accident.