The main driver of the bus involved in the Hyderabad-Bengaluru bus fire tragedy, Miryala Lakshmaiah, was arrested by police on Saturday, October 25, after having initially fled the scene of the accident.
Driver, helper broke window panes to aid escape of passengers
Lakshmaiah managed to escape the inferno by jumping out through the passenger door and failed to gauge the situation, Kurnool superintendent of police Vikrant Patil told PTI.
“Once the fire started (and) the bus came to a halt, through the passenger door he (Lakshmaiah) jumped out. He did not understand the intensity,” the police officer said.
After escaping the raging fire, Lakshmaiah woke up the additional driver sleeping in the luggage rack at the bottom portion of the bus between the front and rear wheels.
Realising that they cannot enter the vehicle, together they started breaking the window panes with a rod used to change tyres, enabling some passengers to escape the blaze, said Patil.
Some onlookers also broke a few more window panes while some others were broken from inside by the panic-stricken passengers rushing to escape, he said.
However, the fire continued to rage and engulf the entire bus, prompting the scared Lakshmaiah to flee the spot.
Police picked him up from Kurnool on Friday afternoon. He is being held culpable for the disaster.
Police booked Lakshmaiah for negligence and overspeeding. A case has been registered at the Ulindakonda police station under sections 125 (a) (endangering human life) and 106 (1) (causing death by negligence) of BNS Act.
Bus registered in Daman and Diu, had all-India permit
According to police, the bus belonging to V Kaveri Travels with registration number DD 01 N 9490 is not registered in the southern state.
Patil noted that it was registered in the Union Territory of Daman and Diu but enjoyed an all-India permit to engage in business in Andhra Pradesh.
As part of the probe, police seized some papers from the travel company, including an all-India permit, transport permit, insurance and others.
Further, Patil said police are ascertaining the fire safety mechanisms employed by the bus operator, among others.
Bus driver allegedly obtained license using fake certificate
Local reports suggest that Lakshmaiah allegedly obtained his heavy vehicle license using a fake certificate. Investigators discovered that he had used fabricated documents claiming to be a tenth-grade failure, despite RTA rules requiring at least an eighth-grade education for the license.
Lakshmaiah reportedly studied only up to fifth grade and procured his license by submitting fake documents stating that he had failed tenth grade.
In 2004, he had crashed into a nearby tree while working as a lorry driver, in which the cleaner died, but Lakshmaiah survived.
The accident, which took place on Friday in Kurnool district on the Hyderabad-Bengaluru highway, claimed the lives of 20 passengers, including the man whose two-wheeler hit the bus. The ill-fated bus was carrying 44 passengers at the time of the accident.
Based on a complaint filed by one of the survivors, N Ramesh, the Ulindakonda Police in Kurnool district registered a case against the two bus drivers. Both are currently in police custody.
Ramesh, in his complaint, said that about 40 passengers were travelling in the V Kaveri Travels bus with registration number DD 01 N 9490. The Multi Axle Sleeper AC Volvo bus had a seating capacity of 42. It started from Hyderabad and was proceeding towards Bengaluru. The complainant boarded the bus near LB Stadium on October 23.
“In the early hours after crossing Kurnool, there was a loud sound and flames erupted in the front portion of the bus,” said Ramesh in his complaint.
Speaking to PTI, Kurnool SP Vikrant Patel said, “A case has been registered at the Ulindakonda police station under section 125(a) (endangering human life), 106(1) (causing death by negligence) of the BNS Act”.
(There was a mistake in the story’s headline, which has been rectified)
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