In the season's first suspected death due to heat stroke, traffic constable Akhilesh Kumar Rai collapsed and died while on duty this morning. According to his colleagues at the Burtolla police station, Rai, 58, was manning a busy crossing when he took ill. He was rushed to a private nursing home nearby, where he was declared ‘‘dead on arrival’’. The body has been sent for a post-mortem.According to eyewitness Shyamkumar Gupta, who runs an eatery near the traffic crossing, Rai had come to his shop for some water. ‘‘It was very hot. He splashed his face with water and poured some on his head. Suddenly, he fell unconscious. I ran to the traffic crossing and called his colleague, who then put him in a taxi and headed off for medical help,’’ said Gupta.The constable, who was with the Manicktala Traffic Guard and posted at Burtolla police station, hailed from Banauligram in Ara district of Bihar.Jolted by his sudden death, Kolkata Commissioner of Police Gautam Mohan Chakrabarti said today that the duty hours of traffic policemen would be reduced from the existing eight hours to six hours per day.‘‘It (Rai's death) looks like a case of heat stroke. The reduction in duty hours would be effective for the summer season only. Starting today, we have also begun issuing glucose powder to the personnel on duty. But the truth of the matter is that it’s a tough job which requires the personnel to be on the spot,’’ said Chakrabarti.Rai is survived by his wife Teeja Devi and six children — five daughters and one son. While his wife, son and one daughter live at the family home in Bihar, the other four daughters are married. Senior police officers said Rai's wife has been informed of his death.
