Pune minibus fire: Driver arrested, remanded to police custody till March 29

The accused, Janardan Humbardekar, a resident of Warje who worked at Vyoma Graphics in Hinjewadi, deliberately set the bus on fire due to work-related grievances including constant quarrels with the employees he ferried

The Pimpri-Chinchwad police Thursday afternoon arrested the 56-year-old driver of the minibus who allegedly set it on fire at Hinjewadi on March 19, causing the death of four employees and serious burn injuries to five others in the incident.

There is a need to investigate from where the chemicals were brought and whether there is any other stock that needs to be seized, said police. (REPRESENTATIVE PHOTO)

The accused, Janardan Humbardekar, a resident of Warje who worked at Vyoma Graphics in Hinjewadi, deliberately set the bus on fire due to work-related grievances including constant quarrels with the employees he ferried. Humbardekar too suffered 30% burn injuries during the incident and was undergoing treatment at Ruby Hall Clinic, Hinjewadi.

Earlier, the Hinjewadi police had filed an FIR. Later however, they registered a case against Humbardekar under sections 103 (1) and 109 (1) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for causing the death of and serious injuries to company workers by setting the minibus on fire, the police said.

Police inspector (crime) Rushikesh Ghadge attached to the Hinjewadi police station said that the accused was arrested Thursday afternoon and produced before a court which remanded him to police custody till March 29. “There is a need to investigate from where the chemicals were brought and whether there is any other stock that needs to be seized. There is a need to find out whether work-related grievances alone were the reason that triggered the act,” Ghadge said. He added that it needs to be probed how the rags and chemicals were taken out of the company premises, and whether there was any other person involved in the act who aided Humbardekar. It also needs to be probed why the specific location and the minibus were chosen for the act, he said.

According to the Hinjewadi police, Humbardekar on Tuesday, March 18, took a can of benzene from the company’s storeroom and collected old rags for the purpose of taking revenge. He bought a matchbox from a roadside shop near his house. The next day on Wednesday, while driving the Tempo Traveller, he stopped near Wipro Circle, bent down near the driver’s seat, opened the right-side door pretending to do something near his feet. He then closed and locked the door. Shortly thereafter, the employees sitting inside the minibus noticed the smoke and flames near the driver’s seat. At that moment, Humbardekar jumped out of the moving bus from the left-side door without pulling the handbrake, letting the fire spread rapidly. As the flames erupted near the driver’s seat, other passengers too jumped out. The burning bus kept moving, eventually crashing into a tree in front of Sacha Engineering Company before grinding to a halt, the police said.

Deputy commissioner of police Vishal Gaikwad said, “We had called the arson experts yesterday (Wednesday) and they too took samples and sent them to the lab. The reports are awaited. There was no short circuit in the vehicle which the experts found during the probe. The evidence has been taken into custody. We have recorded the statements of the company employees and some victims during the investigation,” he said.