A woman entrepreneur died when the car in which she was being taken to hospital got stuck in a traffic jam triggered by police’s traffic control to provide a free way to President Ram Nath Kovind.
The Kanpur Police has apologised for the death of Vandana Mishra, president of Indian Industry Association, Kanpur chapter.
On Saturday morning, Police Commissioner Aseem Arun apologised for the incident on Twitter and reached the house of the deceased to express condolences.
According to reports, Vandana Mishra was ill for the past several days. On Friday morning, her husband Sharad Mishra took her to Regency Hospital. She was given medication and was allowed to go home. But in the evening her condition further deteriorated and her family members decided to take to the hospital again.
“While on the way to the hospital, our car got stuck in a traffic jam. We were told that traffic is blocked because of President’s arrival in Kanpur,” Sharad Sharma said.
The relatives allege that the police personnel were informed about the patient’s condition but they refused help citing the arrival of the President.
“We wasted precious 30 minutes or so. When traffic opened and we reached the hospital, the doctors declared Vandana dead,” Sharad said.
President and his wife came to know about the incident on Saturday morning when local newspapers flashed the news. Later the President directed Kanpur District Magistrate and Police Commissioner to console the bereaved family over the incident.
On this, District Magistrate Alok Tiwari conveyed the President’s condolence message to the late Vandana Mishra’s husband Sharad Mishra.
Later Police Commissioner Aseem Arun, apologised on the official Twitter account of the Commissionerate of Police and wrote, “I am personally apologising on behalf of Kanpur city police and personally for the demise of IIA president Vandana Mishra. This is a great lesson for the future. We pledge that our route arrangement will be such that citizens are stopped for minimum time so that such incidents do not recur.”
The police have suspended three cops including a traffic inspector.