Around 40 agitating PTTI students blocked the convoy of Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee for a few minutes on Friday afternoon following which CM’s cavalcade had to take a detour to reach his Palm Avenue residence. Police arrested 19 students in this connection.

The incident took place at 1.20 pm near the St Andrews Church, very close to the Secretariat, minutes after the chief minister left the Writers’ Buildings.

Anticipating the demonstrators’ plan, the pilot car took a different route as the students shouted slogans in support of their demands.

“The police had information that there would be some kind of protests in front of the Writer’s Building, but were taken aback when the students, who were hiding behind a mini-bus, tried to block the chief minister’s convoy,” said state Home Secretary Ardhendu Sen.

He termed it as a failure on the part of the police but said that no further inquiry would be ordered in this matter.

According to the senior police officers, it was the alertness of the pilot bike riders and pilot car that prevented the chief minister’s convoy from getting stuck in the blockade for a long period.

Ashok Rudra, a PTTI student leader who was later arrested, said: “The state government is turning its back on us. This crisis has been lingering for long and 13 students have committed suicide. We sought appointment from the chief minister on this matter but he has no time for us.” “We were determined to block his convoy and make him aware of our demands,” Rudra added.

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