Molest triggers ire on cabbies - Jalpaiguri residents burn liquor dens

Remnants of what used to be food stalls for taxi drivers in Jalpaiguri town.
Picture by Biplab Basak

TT, Oct. 26: A taxi driver last night allegedly barged into the home of an eatery owner after a brawl with him and molested his wife and granddaughter, bringing to a head a festering problem caused by supposedly inebriated cabbies in Jalpaiguri town.

This morning, women of the locality tore down and set fire to all the food stalls where the taxi drivers allegedly gathered and drank liquor. Some of the women in the middle-income locality alleged that the drivers, who park their cars at a stand near the food stalls, made lewd remarks at women passing by.

The accused driver was arrested from his home this morning.

Sources said yesterday evening, taxi driver Shankar Roy entered the eatery run by the minor girl’s grandfather.

The duo soon had an altercation over some small matter and Shankar allegedly assaulted the elderly man, whose home is adjacent to his shop.

The girl and her grandmother were sleeping in the house around 11pm when the eatery owner was attacked.

A police officer in Jalpaiguri said: “It was alleged that the drunken taxi driver then broke into the house and molested the girl and her grandmother. This morning, the old man filed a complaint with us and we arrested Shankar Roy.”

When news of the barge-in spread in the locality, residents first gathered at Kotwali police station demanding the driver’s arrest. They then set the bamboo food-selling shanties on fire.

In the nearly 100-strong mob, many were women supporters of Trinamul who ransacked the three eateries and the taxi stand office.

“All these three hotels sell liquor illegally and that is consumed at the taxi stand office. Lewd comments are made at women by drunken youths. Such acts in a residential locality should be stopped. After yesterday’s incident, we will not allow illegal liquor to be sold or the taxi stand office to run from here,” said Mili Roy, a Trinamul leader of the locality.

“It is because of the availability of such liquor and gathering of drunkards in the these shanties that the girl and her grandparents had to face such torture last night,” Roy said. “Local people have spontaneously protested today.”

Other residents at the protest spot echoed Roy.

“The taxi stand and the eateries close to it have become a den of anti-socials and drunkards. For the past three-four years, we have been bearing the brunt of their abuse,” a college girl who participated in the protest said.

“We have to hurriedly cross these shanties after dusk as we feel scared. Resentment was brewing among residents here and led to today’s ransacking. The police and administration should see that such shanties do not mushroom in our locality again.”

The residents also blocked the road connecting Paharpur More with Collectorate Avenue in the heart of Jalpaiguri town for about an hour, alleging law and order deterioration.