Kurla bus accident: Driver Sanjay More remanded to police custody till December 21

The police need More’s custody to find out whether he was driving under the influence, whether there was a pre-decided motive and whether he was trained to drive an automatic electric bus, the prosecution said

MUMBAI: Sanjay More, who ploughed a BEST bus into several pedestrians and vehicles on a crowded Kurla street on Monday evening, killing seven people and injuring 42 others, used the heavy vehicle “like a weapon”, the prosecution said in court on Tuesday while demanding police custody of the 54-year-old.

Kurla bus accident: Driver Sanjay More remanded to police custody till December 21

The police need More’s custody to find out whether he was driving under the influence, whether there was a pre-decided motive and whether he was trained to drive an automatic electric bus, the prosecution said. While More’s lawyer argued that his client was an experienced driver and claimed the accident took place because of a technical issue in the bus, the metropolitan magistrate court remanded him in police custody till December 21.

More was first detained and later arrested by the police under sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 110 (attempt to commit culpable homicide) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and relevant provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act. He was produced in court on Tuesday.

Describing the act as heinous, the prosecution alleged that More kept driving at a high speed despite knowing it was a crowded area, resulting in the death of seven people. “We want to check if he was under the influence of any drugs,” said the public prosecutor (name?). “We have taken his blood samples and are waiting for the medical reports. It’s a heinous crime; we want to inquire if there was any pre-decided motive to carry out the accident and if it was part of any conspiracy. Also, we want to inquire if any more people are involved in the conspiracy.”

The police also want to find out if More was equipped to drive the electric bus. “We want to know if he had any training to drive the air-conditioned automatic electric bus. The bus had been used like a weapon. The gravity of the offence was such that people on the streets started fleeing for life it was a huge chaos in the 200-metre area from [Kurla] station to Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Nagar [where the bus came to a halt],” added the public prosecutor.

More’s lawyer, advocate Samadhan Sulene, said that his client had been driving four-wheelers since 1989, adding that there was a malfunction in the BEST bus, which led to him losing control of the vehicle. More could not stop the bus despite trying his best, added Sulene.

The defence also said that the BEST Undertaking is a public transport body that provides all kinds of training to its drivers, so there was no need to check whether More was equipped to drive the automatic electric bus. A serious charge like culpable homicide not amounting to murder is not applicable to the facts of the case as there was no intention to cause anybody’s death, said Sulene, adding, “It was an accident.”

Sulene also argued that More has not had any offence registered against him in the past, so there was no requirement for police custody. The police can do all the documentation even when More is in judicial custody, he added.

After hearing both sides, the magistrate court remanded More in police custody till December 21.