2 BEST staff force injured woman off bus in Mumbai for ‘taking too much time’

According to police, the complainant, marketing head of a private firm, boarded a BEST bus for route number 210 from the front door near Citi Mall.

A BEST bus driver and conductor on Tuesday allegedly forced a 41-year-old woman, who had undergone a leg surgery, to get off the bus in Andheri for taking too much time to board. While they stopped the vehicle and allowed other travellers to board the bus following them, they didn’t let the woman to get onto that vehicle too, getting even those staffers to stop and a commuter to allegedly push her off it and molest her. The duo and the commuter also allegedly didn’t let her get into an auto, forcing her to spend the night at the police station to register an FIR against them and the commuter.

When the woman boarded the other bus, Naik and Chavan allegedly asked the driver not to start till she got down. (HT FILE)

According to police, the complainant, marketing head of a private firm, boarded a BEST bus for route number 210 from the front door near Citi Mall. Angry that she was taking time, the driver, Rajaram Naik, 41, shouted at her, the complainant said. “He suddenly started the bus. A commuter caught me or I would have fallen. I told the driver about my surgery, but he yelled at me,” the woman said.

They got into an argument while she sat next to him, in the seat for specially-abled persons. Conductor Anand Chavan, too. allegedly commented on her. The spat escalated and the woman threatened to call the police. Infuriated, Naik said, “Wait, I’ll get you arrested!”

He stopped the bus around 1km away, at Anand Nagar on Link Road, and asked all passengers to get off, refusing to go ahead, the woman claimed.

Despite the woman’s protest, he shot the video . The woman alleged he started pushing her off the bus, and was joined by Naik and Chavan. The woman got off and the second bus drove away.

Hassled, the woman tried to hail an auto, but Naik, Chavan and Akhtar stopped her from even doing that. The woman then called the police control room. All this stalled traffic on the route for 15-20 minutes, after which the police arrived and took them all to the Oshiwara police station.

Speaking to HT, the woman asked: “Can a driver [Naik] stop the bus like this? Can he ask another driver to stop the bus? The other driver also didn’t move till I was pushed out….I felt so helpless. I’m a single mother and my son was waiting for me alone.”

The Oshiwara police have booked Naik, Chavan and Akhtar under sections 341 (wrongful restraint), 354 (molestation), 504 (intentional insult) and 34 (act done with common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.

Senior inspector Kishor Gaike said, “There is no cross-complaint against the woman.” However, no arrests have been made. While a BEST spokesperson asked the correspondent to get in touch with Oshiwara police, the latter declined to comment.