E-Paper
Kerala: Bus driver, owner remanded following accident that claimed couple’s lives
While the driver has been booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, the bus owner has been charged for abetment
Kochi: The driver and owner of a private bus were remanded to judicial custody by a court in Kozhikode district on Tuesday following their arrest in connection with a road accident that claimed two lives, a police officer said.
The accused were identified as Akhil Kumar, the bus driver and a native of Karanthoor, and bus owner Arun. They were arrested by the Chevayur police following the accident which took place near the Vengeri junction on National Highway 66 on Monday.
“While the driver has been booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, the bus owner has been charged for abetment. Both of them were remanded into judicial custody,” an officer at the Chevayur police station said.
The accident occurred around 9 am near the Vengeri junction on the national highway where construction works were progressing. 43-year-old Shaiju and his wife Jeema (36) were riding a two-wheeler on the highway, travelling from Balussery to Malaparambu. At one point, the two-wheeler came between two private buses riding in front and back. Suddenly, when the bus in front applied emergency brakes, Shaiju also pushed brakes and slowed down, but the bus behind the couple lunged forward and smashed into the two-wheeler which got sandwiched between two buses. Another two-wheeler rider was also hit by the bus in the back.
The entire incident was caught on a camera fixed to the rear end of the bus which travelled in front.
Though Shaiju and Jeema were rushed to a nearby hospital by locals, they succumbed to injuries. Another two-wheeler rider, injured in the incident, is under treatment at the hospital.
The accident occurred due to the negligence of the bus driver Akhil Kumar and his license will be suspended, said a motor vehicle department official.
