KOLKATA: A 58-year-old woman sustained a forehead injury and dislocated jaw in Salt Lake on Monday after a dispute over a Rs 10 currency note with an auto driver turned violent. The driver allegedly dragged her with the vehicle for nearly 20 metres. The victim lodged a complaint on Tuesday and cops arrested the accused, Tapan Das, within a few hours. Bratati Mukherjee, a resident of CG 225, is now bedridden and unable speak, her husband said on Tuesday.“She was returning home from the local market around 11 am when the incident happened. She got off the three-wheeler and handed him a Rs 10 note, which was slightly torn. The driver refused to accept it, and an altercation ensued,” said Sanjay Mukherjee, the woman’s husband.He said that during the altercation, the driver allegedly grabbed the strap of her bag with one hand while accelerating the vehicle with the other. The woman lost her balance and fell, and her face hit the road. She broke two teeth, suffered a dislocated jaw, and sustained a deep forehead injury that required stitches. She also sustained injuries to her feet and other parts of her body.While doctors recommended hospitalisation, the woman is currently recovering at home and is unable to speak due to the jaw injury. “She is extremely traumatised by the incident,” Mukherjee said.The victim is a former physics teacher at a Bidhannagar municipal school. “She left her job years ago after an accident severely affected her spine. She now offers tuition at home. I don’t know how long she will take to recover from this incident,” her husband said.Acting on a complaint lodged by Mukherjee, police started a case against the auto driver and began tracking the CCTV cameras. Although a CCTV camera near the victim’s home did not capture the incident, police analysed footage from other nearby cameras and tracked down the auto within 12 hours.The accused, identified as Tapan Das, was arrested on Tuesday and produced before the court of Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate (ACJM) in Salt Lake. He has been remanded in 14 days’ judicial custody.Following the incident, local residents expressed concern over the growing number of auto-related disputes and urged cops to improve monitoring and ensure stricter regulation of auto operations in residential areas.
