West Delhi: Bus mows down man, mob goes on rampage

Police have arrested the driver of the cluster bus, and booked him for causing death due to negligence and rash driving

An agitated mob damaged multiple buses and attacked a police van after a pedestrian was allegedly run over by an orange cluster bus near Nawada metro station late on Tuesday night, officials said on Wednesday.

A videograb of the mob attack in Nawada on Tuesday night. (HT Photo)

According to the police and those present at the spot, a group of people who gathered after the alleged accident vandalised several buses. After a police team reached there, the mob allegedly also got into a confrontation with security officials, and smashed their vehicle’s windows, officials said.

The violence led to a traffic jam in the area. It was brought under control in an hour, police said.

Meanwhile, police have arrested the driver of the cluster bus, and booked him for causing death due to negligence and rash driving.

A second FIR was lodged against unidentified people for assaulting public servants and causing hurt under the Indian Penal Code, and under the Prevention of Damages to Public Property Act, said M Harsha Vardhan, deputy commissioner of police (Dwarka).

According to the police, the mob accused the bus driver of causing the death of the pedestrian due to rash driving. The accident took place at around 10.30pm on Tuesday, right next to Nawada metro station. However, more details about how the accident took place and other circumstances were yet to be known. Police have started investigation into the same, officers said.

They were also yet to identify the deceased.

A staffer of the vandalised cluster bus said that the mob attacked other buses too, and hampered the movement of traffic on that route. “The mob damaged over half-a-dozen buses and stopped the flow of traffic,” said Manoj Sharma, a member of the Delhi Transport Corporation union.

Delhi Transport Corporation is the main public transport operator of Delhi. Cluster buses are run by the Delhi Integrated Multi Modal Transit System (DIMTS), a joint venture of the Delhi government and IDFC Foundation.

A senior DIMTS official said that two buses were badly vandalised. The official said that the errant driver, identified as 29-year-old Amit, was removed by the concessionaire and he will not be employed at any cluster bus depot in the future.

According to the police, the damaged vehicles included one bus and a police van.

Police were yet to nab those part of the mob. “Strict action will be taken against those found damaging the public property in this incident,” said DCP Vardhan.