The dzongkhag administration of Samdrupjongkhar and Bhutan-India Friendship Association (BIFA) will talk with the deceased’s parents to compromise on the recent incident that occurred at Barama, Assam.

The suspect will have to pay compensation if the parents agree to compromise on the case.

Samdrupjongkhar Dzongdag, Tharchen Lhundup, said that as soon as the incident reported, they talked with the concern authorities. “We have sent the officers concerned to Barama police station to study the case and the suspect driver is on bail but he should follow their normal procedures.”

To prevent such incidents or mishaps in future, awareness programmes for drivers will be conducted because speeding is a problem, the dzongdag added. “If the authorities concerned come to know before the public do anything, the authorities help the suspects because of the good relationship.”

He said: “We will talk with the deceased’s parents to compromise and, if they agree to compromise, the suspect has to pay the compensation.”

A BIFA member said that the association would not do anything since it was not informed about the case. “We got information from our friends from India and later we informed the police.”

He added that the members of the BIFA are volunteers with limited mandate. Members cannot negotiate such cases since the BIFA’s objectives and policies are people to people contact to maintain peace, harmony, unity and development between the two countries.

“We cannot react and attend to every accident listening to one side story. We have to respect the law,” a member said.

As per the source, the officials from Samdrupjongkhar police division went to Barama police station in Assam to establish the facts about the incident. The officials learned that the tipper truck driven by the suspect carrying a coal knocked down a 13-year-old student in front of St John’s Higher Secondary School, Barama.

“The public got agitated and burnt down the tipper and the jumbo truck that was following the tipper and both the drivers were brought to Barama police station. However, the driver of the jumbo truck was released because he was not found guilty of any offence,” the report stated.

The suspect was detained by the Barama police for further investigation. However, he was released on bail.

The suspect had sustained injuries and was sent to Nganglam hospital for treatment with his wife and relatives.

According to the Officer Commanding (OC) of Barama police station, the tipper and the jumbo are kept under the custody of Barama police and will be handed over to the rightful owners after investigations.

“The cause of an incident was due to speeding…However, the suspect stated that it occurred mainly due to the brake failure.” the report stated.

Kelzang Wangchuk |  Samdrupjongkhar