Kurla accident: RTO rules out flaws in vehicle; driver wasn't trained to operate e-bus

Officers from Kurla police station said the RTO report puts to rest speculations about the health of the bus

MUMBAI: Two days after Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) Undertaking driver Sanjay More went on a rampage driving an electric bus (e-bus) in a congested Kurla thoroughfare that killed seven and injured 42, Regional Transport Officers (RTO) shared preliminary assessment report with the police, which stated that there was no technical fault with the bus.

On Monday evening, the e-bus rammed into pedestrians and at least 22 vehicles near Anjum-i-Islam school on SG Barve Marg, Kurla West (Hindustan Times)

On the other hand, More, who was booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder after the incident, told police on Wednesday that he had received three rounds of training only in an e-bus by the wet lease contractor, commissioned to run the fleet by the transport utility. This is contrary to BEST’s internal SOP that mandates a six-week refresher training for drivers scaling up from manual to e-buses.

Officers from Kurla police station said RTO’s report puts to rest speculations about the health of the bus, and added they are now interrogating More to ascertain if he was in sound mental state at the time of the accident. Officers will also question members of his family to record if there was any conflict in the family the day More set out for work.

“Sanjay More has been telling us that the bus went out of his control and that he could not understand what to do. However, we are taking his words with a pinch of salt, and will speak to his family and colleagues to understand if he had any dispute with anyone or any arguments,” said the DCP Ganesh Gawade, Zone V.

Initial probe had revealed that the bus was running at a speed of over 60 km per hour at the time of the incident. “While More has a long experience of driving, he has not driven an automatic e-vehicle,” said an investigating officer.

On Monday evening the e-bus ran amok ramming into pedestrians and at least 22 vehicles near Anjum-i-Islam school on SG Barve Marg, Kurla West, spanning around 200 meters. Two of the injured are in a critical condition in Sion Hospital.

After the accident, locals gathered around the bus in large numbers and assaulted Sanjay More and conductor Siddharth More. Some policemen on patrolling duty saved the driver by taking him in their custody even as some constables came in the line of the angry mob.

The policemen immediately helped the driver wear a T-shirt over his khaki shirt and took him to the police station. The bus conductor escaped the wrath of the crowd by hiding in a nearby clinic where the doctor gave him a change of clothes. Police officials said they are interrogating Sanjay More away from Kurla, fearing his safety.

So far, police have recorded statements of around 25 people and are hoping to record more soon. In his statement, the conductor claimed he was not “aware of what happened to the driver or the vehicle that led to the incident”, as he was in the rear end of the bus. He told police when he saw passengers becoming scared after the bus hit a vehicle, he rang the bell to stop the bus, which the driver ignored. After that, he said, he “looked outside and noticed that vehicles, pedestrians, were being run over by the bus”.

The police officer added that the department has collected CCTV footage of the incident at SG Barve Marg and footage from the CCTV installed inside the bus as well, as part of the investigation.