E-Paper
Bus-truck collision in Ambala: Both drivers arrested
The drivers were identified as Chander Mohan, a resident of Hathras in Uttar Pradesh (UP), who was driving the Faridabad-registered truck, and Furkhan, hailing from UP’s Amroha district, who was behind the wheel of Baghpat-registered sleeper bus.
A day after seven passengers were killed when a truck rammed into a stationary bus in Ambala’s Shahzadpur, police arrested drivers of both the vehicles on Saturday.
They were identified as Chander Mohan, a resident of Hathras in Uttar Pradesh (UP), who was driving the Faridabad-registered truck, and Furkhan, hailing from UP’s Amroha district, who was behind the wheel of Baghpat-registered sleeper bus.
Shahzadpur police station in-charge inspector Birbhan said, “Both drivers were presented before a court that sent them to judicial custody. They have been booked for culpable homicide, apart from other charges.”
The bus-truck collision near Kakkar Majra village, nearly 25 km from Ambala district headquarters, had left four of a family, along with three others, dead.
The bus was commuting from Bareilly to the industrial town of Baddi in adjoining Himachal Pradesh via Panchkula-Yamunanagar National Highway (NH 344) in the wee hours of Friday.
As per eye-witnesses, the bus driver had halted on the highway without any parking lights when the 12-wheeler truck, loaded with iron sheets, rammed into it from behind before overturning on the other side of the road.
Investigating officer (IO) sub-inspector Ram Bhaj said, “The bus driver had parked his vehicle wrongly and gone to relieve himself. Some passengers were also deboarding when the truck suddenly hit the bus.”
SHO Birbhan had earlier said the trucker had dozed off while driving, leading to the collision. Meanwhile, one of the deceased remains unidentified. His body is at the mortuary of the Naraingarh civil hospital, while most of the injured have been discharged from the Ambala Cantonment and Panchkula civil hospitals.
The IO said, “We are trying to trace his family. We will issue his photo for circulation in his possible circles for identification.”
