₹600 fine for taking selfie on Patna bridge

PATNA The Patna police will impose a penalty of ~600 each on those found taking selfies on the new rail-cum-road bridge across Ganga river, connecting Digha with Sonepur.

The bridge, named after freedom fighter Jayaprakash Narayan, was on Saturday declared a ‘no selfie’ and ‘no halting’ zone, after seven accidents, which claimed four lives, were reported since chief minister Nitish Kumar inaugurated the road deck of the JP Setu on June 11.

PM Narendra Modi had opened the rail section of the 4.56 km bridge on March 12 last year.

Six days ago, three minors had lost their lives. Mohammad Afzal, a Class 7 student, Mohammad Arman and Mohammad Ahsan (both Class 6 students) were crushed to death by a speeding vehicle when they were allegedly taking selfies on the bridge. In addition, the police will also fine ~100 each for those halting their vehicles – twowheelers or four-wheelers on the Setu. Traffic superintendent of police (SP) Prantosh Kumar Das said, “No vehicle is allowed to stop on the bridge. How can someone stop when there is no footpath? If people are taking selfies on the bridge, they are putting their lives at risk,” said Das.

He said altogether 60 policemen, besides NCC cadets, have been deployed on JP Setu to regulate traffic and guide people.

On the first day, the police collected ~5,200 fine from at least 71 traffic violators.

THE RAILCUMROAD BRIDGE ACROSS GANGA RIVER — WHICH HAS CLAIMED 4 LIVES IN SEVEN ACCIDENTS — WAS DECLARED A ‘NO SELFIE’ AND ‘NO HALTING’ ZONE ON SATURDAY