Truck, bus drivers protest against hit-and-run law; block highways
PTC News Desk: A wave of protests swept through various states as drivers and truckers expressed their displeasure with the new penal law's stringent 'hit-and-run' provision.
The criminal code law, which replaced the British-era Indian Penal Code (IPC), punishes fleeing an accident scene and failing to report the incident with up to ten years in prison.
On Monday, a large number of commercial vehicles, including trucks and buses, did not operate across Punjab in protest of the new hit-and-run law.
Truck drivers started a protest on the Ludhiana-Ferozepur Road in Moga, causing traffic to be disrupted. According to transporters, truck drivers have also gathered at the Shambhu border near Ambala, obstructing truck movement.
According to media reports, protesters are gaining support from Punjab Roadways, Punjab Road Transport Corporation (PRTC), and private bus companies.
On Monday, truck drivers staged "rasta roko" protests across Maharashtra. The protests raised the prospect of a fuel shortage in some areas.
According to officials, truck drivers briefly stopped traffic on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad Highway in the Mira Bhayandar area of Thane district and threw stones at cops, injuring one. Stones were thrown at a police vehicle, causing it to be damaged.
Commercial bus and truck drivers protested in several places across Chhattisgarh on Monday, demanding that a provision in the new penal code pertaining to hit-and-run accidents involving motorists be withdrawn.
On Monday, more than 12,000 private bus drivers across the state declared a strike, stranding hundreds of commuters at bus stations in Raipur, Bilaspur, Durg, and Rajnandgaon, among other cities.
People lined up at gas stations across the country, fearing that the agitation would disrupt fuel supply in the coming days.
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