Mumbai: A Magistrate Court in Kurla has sent the BEST bus driver Sanjay More, whose EV mowed down 49 people, killing seven, and crashed into over 30 vehicles, to police custody till December 21, as the tragedy sparked a political furore here on Tuesday.
More, 50, was arrested early on Tuesday as angry people attempted to assault him. He was questioned and then arrested on multiple charges including culpable homicide not amounting to murder for the mayhem that occurred around 9.30 P.M. on Monday.
According to the BrihanMumbai Electric Supply & Transport (BEST), the driver had apparently lost control of the 12-metre-long electric bus and continued speeding it over more than 100 metres in a crowded market place near Lal Bahadur Shastri Road on the S.G. Barve Marg.
As the crazily-driven bus created pandemonium, hundreds of people started screaming and running helter-skelter to avoid being hit, but the vehicle with around seven commuters on board, rammed into and shattered the boundary wall of Solomon Residency building before grinding to an abrupt halt.
During the preliminary questioning, More admitted that he was barely trained for 10 days before being deployed to drive the bus on its daily trips, and narrated that he lost control of the bus as he had no experience in driving the sophisticated and automated EVs.
Discounting last night’s eyewitness reports alleging that More was inebriated, tentative medical reports suggest that he was not drunk and was fully alert, but his blood samples have been sent for medical analysis.
A team of forensic experts and the Regional Transport Office towed the electric bus from the building compound and launched checks to verify if there were any mechanical defects that could have led to the fatal accident.
As the bus was wet-leased from a private party, the probe could extend to the involvement of its officials, civic and other officials, too, said sources.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the kin of the seven deceased and full medical treatment expenses of all the injured in the tragedy, while Deputy CM Ajit Pawar assured that the matter would be thoroughly probed and the guilty shall be punished.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leaders Aditya Thackeray, Nationalist Congress Party (SP) Working President Supriya Sule, Congress Working President M. Arif Naseem Khan and other Maha Vikas Aghadi leaders demanded a complete enquiry into the tragedy and the most stringent action against the culprit/s.
Among the seven dead, six have been identified as Kaniz Fatema Ansari, 55, Afreen A. Shaikh, 19, Anam Shaikh, 18, Farooque Chaudhari, 54, Shivam Kashyap, 18, and Vijay Gaikwad, 70, said the BMC. Among the 49 injured, seven are reported to be critical, six were discharged, and the remaining continue to be under treatment in various civic, government and private hospitals.
The BEST announced a compensation of Rs 2 lakh to the kin of each of the deceased, and set up a probe committee headed by Chief Manager Ramesh Madavi.
The air-conditioned bus Route No. A-332, wet-leased by the BEST, was attached with the Kurla Bus Depot and was proceeding via Sakinaka to Andheri East Bus Depot when the mayhem took place.
A Bharatiya Janata Party delegation called on BEST General Manager Anil Diggikar and demanded a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the families of the deceased persons and upto Rs 2 lakh for all the injured.
