KSRTC bus driver, conductor attacked

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: A bus driver and conductor working with the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) were allegedly assaulted by a female passenger and a few others for refusing to stop the bus at an undesignated stop.

According to sources, the incident occurred on Thursday around 6:30 am in Chitradurga district’s Challakere town. The bus driver, Hanumantha, and the conductor, Chandregowda AB, 49, had stopped the bus at Nehru Circle in Challakere, when they were abused and assaulted by a group of men led by a woman.

It was revealed that two days ago, on Tuesday, the woman, Chandrika, boarded the Rayadurga-Bengaluru interstate Sarige bus at around 6:30 am in Challakere. She was travelling to Dabaspet, on the outskirts of Bengaluru.

Holding a press meet over the incident, the KSRTC spokesperson on Thursday, said that since the bus was an inter-state one-way vehicle, women passengers were allowed to travel for free as part of the ‘Shakti’ scheme. When the accused woman told the conductor, Chandregowda, her destination, he informed her that there was no stop at Dobbaspet and that she would need to choose another mode of transport from Tumakuru.

"The woman asked for a ticket to Hiriyur and said that she would take another bus. However she did not deboard at Hiriyur and then sought a ticket to Tumakuru, which was issued by the conductor. When the bus reached Tumakuru, she began abusing the conductor that she wouldn’t get down and the bus had to go to Dabaspet," the corporation said in a press statement. Despite the conductor’s repeated requests, the woman didn’t budge, the KSRTC said.

The conductor then asked the driver to stop the bus near the Dobbaspet flyover, despite it not being a designated bus stop, where the woman deboarded. On Thursday morning Chandrika, along with Mallikarjuna, Shivaraja and Naveena, allegedly stopped the bus at Nehru Circle and attacked the bus driver and conductor. In the police complaint, Chandregowda alleged that the trio accompanying the woman assaulted him.

The bus driver who came to Chandregowda’s aid was also attacked, the complaint noted. KSRTC said that both the driver and the conductor were admitted to the Challakere Government Hospital for treatment. "They are still recovering in the hospital. Arrangements have been made to move the conductor to Chitradurga/Davanagere District Hospital as he has suffered injuries to his chest and neck," the KSRTC said.

Based on the complaint, Challakere police have registered a First Information Report (FIR) under Sections 341 (wrongful restraint), 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace), 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 332 (voluntarily causing hurt to deter public servant from his duty) and 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).