Siliguri:
Four persons, including an army personnel, were killed and three others seriously injured when a truck rammed into a shop on national highway at Bhuttabari near Bagdogra, about 18 km from Siliguri.
Locals blocked the arterial road, linking Siliguri and Kolkata, till the wee hours in protest against the incident as hundreds of vehicles lined up on both sides, police said.
Bikram Thamir (56), an army man, and three others were standing near the roadside shop, selling poultry items, when the truck suddenly swerved to a side and rammed into the shop late Friday night, police said.
Besides Thamir, the other victims were Arun Sharma (23), Krishna Dorji (45) and the owner of shop Ramesh Tamang (30), police said.
Three others injured in the mishap, one of them a woman, have been admitted to North Bengal Medical College and Hospital.
Immediately after the incident locals blocked NH 31 laying the four bodies on the busy road.
Though police managed to remove the bodies for post-mortem, the blockade continued till the wee hours this morning as hundreds of vehicles, including long distance buses, got stranded.
Vehicular movement could resume in the wee hours after much persuasion, police said.