Bihar woman dies after ambulance gets stuck in RJD bandh; Senior leader says 'such things happen during agitations'

A woman patient breathed her last in an ambulance stuck in a massive traffic jam during the Bihar bandh called by Opposition Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) on Thursday. [caption id=“attachment_4269957” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  RJD called a day-long bandh in Bihar. Image courtesy: Alok Kumar[/caption] When asked about the incident, senior RJD leader Raghuvansh Prasad said: “Such incidents happen during agitation. Some people also die sometimes.” Somari Devi, 35, who was critically ill, was being taken from Mahnar in Hajipur to a Patna hospital, but the ambulance was caught in traffic on the Mahatma Gandhi Setu, which connects North Bihar to Patna and is considered a life line for northern districts, due to the ‘chakka jam’ by RJD workers. Her in-laws pleaded with workers and policemen but no one was able to help. The RJD called a day-long bandh to protest the state government’s new mining policy and alleged deterioration of law and order. Even though the state government decided to withdraw the policy on Wednesday evening, the RJD went ahead with the call for bandh. RJD workers forcefully closed shops and traffic and disrupted traffic on all the bridges, which caused inconvenience for the common man. In Bhagalpur, agitating workers smashed window panes of cars and damaged many two-wheelers.  One of the injured, coming from Gopalganj, where a boiler exploded in a sugar mill , was also stuck in traffic, but the police managed to clear the way. The ruling Janata Dal (United) and even RJD ally Congress reacted sharply to the bandh call as the state capital Patna is welcoming Sikh devotees on the occasion of 350th birth anniversary of Guru Govind Singh. “When the government agreed to continue the old mining policy, then why did RJD press ahead with the bandh call? Violence is in their DNA and they are just demonstrating the same,” JD(U) spokesman Ajay Alok said. Senior Congress leader Ashok Chaudhary also criticised the bandh call saying, “Their timing was wrong.” Meanwhile, Opposition leader Tejashwi Yadav led a march in Patna and courted arrest. He, along with his elder brother Tej Pratap, were taken to Kotwali Police station where they were freed after completing formalities.  ​