The isolated van carrying the vaccines was hijacked for a distance of five km (File)
Calcutta:
A special vehicle carrying COVID-19 vaccines had to be hijacked in West Bengal’s Purba Bardhaman district on Wednesday due to a blockade of the national road led by Minister of State Siddiqullah Chowdhury, who was protesting against the new laws agriculture, sources said.
Purba Bardhaman Police Superintendent Bhaskar Mukhopadhyay said the isolated van carrying the vaccines was hijacked for a distance of five km through a village due to the blockade of the national highway, connecting Kolkata and New Delhi.
However, unofficial sources claimed that the vehicle had to cross the village roads for a distance of 20 km before it could be returned to the national road.
After leaving the state government vaccine store in Kolkata, the vehicle delivered 31,500 doses of vaccine to the Purba Bardhaman District Health Unit and was on its way to deliver the vital drug to Bankura and Purulia when the incident has occurred.
“Minister Siddiqullah Chowdhury blocked the coronavirus vaccine today due to his political hypocrisy. For this reason, the vehicle carrying the vaccine had to be hijacked. Who would have been responsible if, due to an accident or for any other reason, the vaccine had been destroyed? ” BJP chief Kailash Vijayvargiya said in a Hindi tweet.
Mr Chowdhury, the state library services minister, said he was unaware of the movement of the vaccine van and cleared the road once it was brought to his knowledge, but by then he had already been turned away.
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