Heat wave blamed as traffic cop dies on duty

Glucose Powder Kolkata, April 22 In the season’s first suspected death due to heat stroke, traffic constable Akhilesh Kumar Rai collapsed and died while on duty on Tuesday morning.According to his colleagues at the Burtolla police station, Rai, 58, was manning a busy crossing when he took ill. He was rushed to the Capital Nursing Home nearby, where he was declared “dead on arrival”. The body has been sent for a postmortem.According to eyewitness Shyamkumar Gupta, who runs an eatery near the traffic crossing, Rai had come to his shop asking for water. Earlier, Gupta was seen clearing the road of rods dislodged from a broken divider railing.“It was very hot. He splashed his face with water and poured some on his head. Suddenly, he fell unconscious. I ran to the traffic crossing and called his colleague, who then put him in a taxi and headed off for medical help,” said Gupta.Senior police officers of the Traffic department, including DC (Traffic) Manoj Verma, visited the nursing home to see him.The constable, who was with the Manicktala Traffic Guard and posted at the Burtolla police station, was from Banauligram in Ara district of Bihar.Jolted by his sudden death, Kolkata Commissioner of Police Gautam Mohan Chakrabarti said the duty hours of traffic policemen would be reduced from the existing eight hours to six hours per day.“It (Rai’s death) looks like a case of heatstroke. The reduction in duty hours would be effective for the summer season only. Starting today, we have also begun issuing glucose powder to the personnel on duty. But the truth of the matter is that it’s a tough job which requires the personnel to be on the spot,” said Chakrabarti.Chakrabarti added that the compensation for policemen who die on duty would be paid to Rai’s family.Rai leaves behind his wife Teeja Devi and six children —five daughters and a son. While his wife, son and one daughter live in their family home in Bihar, the other four daughters are married. Senior police officers said Rai’s wife has been informed of his death.His cousin Ashwini Kumar, who lives in Kolkata, said: “He was about to retire. We hope the government will compensate the family adequately.”