Several drivers of commercial vehicles, including trucks and tankers, staged protests across Madhya Pradesh on Monday to protest the new law regarding hit-and-run cases. According to the new law, hit-and-run cases will now attract a 10-year jail term and a fine of Rs 7 lakhs, said one of the protestors. Road blockades were seen in some places in the state due to protests. Petrol pumps witnessed long queues due to panic over fuel supply. Drivers were agitating at Lalghati in Bhopal where they were stopping city buses and vehicles. Some of the people expressing their dissent against the law were also gathered at Board Office Square in MP Nagar, as reported by news agency PTI.
One Pramod Sikarwar protesting at the Board Office Square. He told PTI, "The new law is against the interest of drivers. Drivers don't want to kill anybody, but accidents happen. In such cases, people turn against the driver. We demand that the new law be amended."
Buses were also seen parked on the road at the Gangwal bus stand in Indore as part of the protest.
The protests have caused panic among people as they fear it will affect fuel supply, PTI reported.
The president of the Madhya Pradesh Petroleum Association, Ajay Singh, told PTI, "The new law in hit-and-run cases will apply to all vehicles and not to tankers or trucks alone. There are problems at some places and people are scrambling to store fuel in panic."
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Singh added that fuel tankers were stuck in some places due to road blockades, however, there is adequate petrol and diesel at most of the petrol pumps, as reported by PTI.
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