Mumbai: Bus driver abducted over minor accident

A 30-year-old driver of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC), Mauli Bhadke, was allegedly slapped and kidnapped by two occupants of a Honda City car following a road rage incident in Mankhurd on Thursday night. HT reports.

A 30-year-old driver of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC), Mauli Bhadke, was allegedly slapped and kidnapped by two occupants of a Honda City car following a road rage incident in Mankhurd on Thursday night.

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Bhadke was taken to Nerul and forced to wait for five hours as his brother had to come down from Pune to pay off the damages.

Police have arrested 26-year-old Mrityunjay Garg and Vinod Dabhade, 25, residents of Navi Mumbai over the incident.

According to the police, Bhadke was driving to Dadar TT from Pune when the incident occurred. “Garg and Dabhade, travelling in a Honda City car, tried to overtake the bus from the left side when the bus brushed against them,” said Shankarsinh Rajput, senior inspector of the Mankhurd police station.

“The angry duo intercepted the bus and pulled Bhadke out of the driver’s seat. They slapped him and forcibly made him sit in their car,” Rajput said.

In Nerul, the duo took Rs 10,000 from Bhadke's brother and let him leave only after taking his ATM card, driving licence and identity card for an additional Rs5,000. Bhadke approached the police for help after which the duo was arrested.

The police said that the duo seized Bhadke's mobile when he was being driven to Nerul. He did not raise an alarm as he was scared.

Incidentally, when Bhadke was forcibly taken into the car, passengers from the bus

alighted from it and walked away. There is no conductor for the Pune-Mumbai route as the tickets are issued at the starting point itself.

Bhadke and his brother were directed across a few police stations before they finally managed to register their complaint.

The Mankhurd police registered a complaint around 4am and arrested the accused.

The duo was produced before a local court on Friday and remanded in police custody up to Monday. They have been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).