Bhandup bus driver was earlier censured and suspended for minor collision: BEST

Although the record had no serious or fatal accident, it showed that he was involved in a minor collision, for which he was censured

Santosh Sawant, the BEST driver arrested for the Bhandup bus accident, which killed four people and injured 14, has a couple of blemishes on his record, as revealed by BEST sources. Although the record had no serious or fatal accident, it showed that he was involved in a minor collision, for which he was censured.

BEST bus driver Santosh Sawant was produced in court on Tuesday and remanded in police custody till January 3 (Hindustan Times)

“He has been censured, cautioned and suspended once in the past,” said a BEST official. “However, there has not been any incident due to which his grade was reduced. In this case, his suspension is pending inquiry.” The BEST sources said that Sawant was also involved in two “not blameworthy” incidents in the past, which means that his bus was involved in minor accidents but he was not found responsible for these.

The BEST authorities had from November 13 discontinued the operation of BEST-owned midi buses on Route 606, on which the fatal accident occurred on Monday night. From November 14, bus services operated by Olectra GreenTech, a wet-lease operator, were deployed. Sawant, who is a BEST staffer, was driving one of these.

According to internal information from BEST, Sawant (52) joined the public transport undertaking in January 2011. He had received training on electric buses in the past. In fact, after the Kurla bus accident on December 9, 2024, BEST strengthened the training module of drivers at its Dindoshi Training Centre.

From January this year till now, the public transport undertaking provided refresher training to 4,529 drivers, 2,121 of them BEST staffers and 2,408 drivers of wet-lease operators. Of the total number of wet-lease drivers, 580 received a refresher course on electric buses while 818 drivers were given induction training on e-buses.

“Another 1,052 drivers were also inducted into the system and underwent training. We also reinstated 11 BEST staff drivers after providing them with necessary training during this period,” said a BEST official.

The officials said that in the Bhandup case, the condition of the bus, both physical and technical, was good; it was driven, not towed, to the police station. Prima facie, the BEST authorities believe the accident to be human error on the part of Sawant though an investigation will be conducted and report submitted. The RTO too is carrying out its own investigation and will submit its own report.

“Not much seems to have changed since the Kurla accident last year,” said Sunil Ganacharya, former BEST Committee member. “There is a need for the government and bureaucrats to give serious thought to the revival of the BEST Undertaking. It continues to run at a loss. The condition of its buses is abysmal and there are huge delays in the supply of new buses.”