2 detained for thrashing bus conductor, driver

Two men have been booked for assaulting a BEST bus driver and conductor near Four Bungalows at Andheri on Tuesday morning.

Two men have been booked for assaulting a BEST bus driver and conductor near Four Bungalows at Andheri on Tuesday morning.

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But their two accomplices, who managed to escape, flung a loose paver block from the pavement at bus driver Pravin Kubal, 37. It hit him on the head.

The commuters managed to hold on to Ravi Romanna, 18, and Raju Laxman, 25, while Kubal drove the bus to the Versova police station.

“We have booked Romanna and Laxman for assaulting public servants. They are yet to be arrested. We are investigating the case,” said Chandrakant Tarte, inspector of the Versova police station.

The incident took place on bus route number 210, which runs between Yari Road to Dahisar. At 9.45am, when the bus halted at a stop near the Four Bungalows fish market, four men boarded the bus but stood near the rear door. When the conductor, Deepak Kanal, asked them to get in and buy tickets, they started arguing. The men then allegedly started beating up Kanal. When Kubal stopped the bus and intervened, they beat him up too.

“This is not the first time such a incident has taken place. The BEST must equip all its buses with closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras so that hooligans and robbers can be caught,” said activist GR Vora.

But the bus in which the incident took place did not have a CCTV camera.

The BEST has installed CCTV cameras in only 1,500 of its 4,700-strong fleet since 2008.

“We have decided to give all facilities, including installation and maintenance of CCTV cameras, to one company, so that there is accountability,” said BEST chairman Sunil Shinde.