Kolkata police helps stranded student reach exam centre through green corridor

After mistakenly ending up at the wrong board exam centre, a class 10 student in Kolkata found herself stranded Saturday, with no one to take her to the right venue — then help came in the most unexpected way.

The girl, whose family was away to attend her dead grandfather’s funeral, was crying and frantically looking for a way to somehow make it in time for her exam when, Kolkata police said, OC Howrah Bridge traffic guard Souvik Chakraborty — who was patrolling Strand Road near Raja Katra around 11:20 — noticed she needed help.

Upon asking the distressed student about her ordeal, the inspector learned the exam centre assigned to her was Adarsh Shiksha Niketan in Shyambazar.

“Realising her situation, Inspector Chakraborty immediately picked up the student in his official vehicle, ensured a green corridor by informing the Traffic Control Room, and rushed towards the examination centre, asking her not to worry. They reached the venue at 11:30 am sharp, just as the centre was about to open its doors,” Kolkata police said in a Facebook post.

The officer, a father of a class XI student himself, recalled how flicking the traffic signals green was her best shot at showing up on time.

"It was around 11.20 when I saw her crying and she had to reach the exam centre by 11.30. Even if I had arranged a car for him, it would not have been possible for him to reach the exam centre," Chakraborty said. "So I took her in my car and asked the control room for green corridor."