Eve teasers allegedly shatter windscreen of an auto from Rongpur in new Sadarghat bridge, mercilessly beat driver; locals complain of substance abuse

The new Sadarghat bridge has become the hotspot of substance abuse and eve-teasing by some biker gangs. Even though it is the “new bridge” over the river Barak, the absence of any working street lamps makes it a sweet spot for immoral activities. Last evening in one such road rage, the windscreen of an auto-rickshaw was allegedly shattered by a gang and the driver mercilessly beaten. When the auto-driver yelled at them for aggressive overtaking, they stopped to drag him out of his auto and started to hit him. 

This incident happened around 6:30 pm yesterday, when Alok Paul an auto-driver from Rongpur was going to Silchar with passengers from Udharbond. The passengers also included two women and children. Describing this horrendous incident Paul said, “While I was coming from Udharbond with three passengers, two boys on a scooty aggressively overtook me. It was a very narrow escape. They could have  hit my vehicle or the other in the parallel lane. That is when I yelled at them to say, why they were riding like that, what’s the hurry”?

The two boys didn’t let go of this remark, rather they stopped to argue with the driver and decided to “teach him a lesson”. When they stopped the auto, they asked what he just said to them and who he was to question them. They didn’t stop there, rather they called their friends, who were on the bridge itself.

Alok Paul describes, “When the two young boys gheraoed me along with their friends, I requested them to let me go and that I too have my children who are of their age. They didn’t listen to me but dragged me out of my auto and started to punch me. They even tore my t-shirt and hit me. My front windscreen was also shattered by them and the glass shards went everywhere which could injure the passengers in the rear seat”.

Luckily the passengers could manage to vacate the auto but were really traumatised. One passenger who was on the auto with two of her children said, “I still can’t process what just happened. The auto driver didn’t say anything rude or offensive to them. Even when they stopped and dragged him out of the auto, he requested to let him go, but they didn’t listen. Somehow I got my two children out of the auto and luckily I got down the auto just before they shattered the glass”.

Many passersby also gathered there to see what had happened with the auto, the locals of Rongpur who use the bridge daily for commute also said that these young boys are mostly intoxicated and consume alcohol or drugs in groups on the sidewalks of the bridge. Taking advantage of the absence of any streetlights, they also hurl slurs at women or girls who walk the bridge to reach home. The incident was then reported to the local police, who gathered there to take stock of the situation.