Nine killed as rogue driver rams 25 vehicles with hijacked bus
He was held after 20km chase as he drove in opposite direction in Pune
Mumbai: A rogue driver of the state transport on Wednesday drove off in a bus from a local depot and rammed against at least 25 vehicles, killing nine people and injuring 27 others.
The injured were admitted to Pune's Sassoon, Jehangir and Sayadhri hospitals. Two of the injured are in critical condition.
The 30-year-old bus driver, Santosh Mane, was arrested after an hour-long chase.
The drama unfolded at around 8.15am, after Mane, an off-duty licensed driver of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) got into an empty bus at the Swargate depot and started driving in the opposite direction on a one-way stretch of the busy Pune-Solapur Road, smashing vehicles in the way. He damaged between 25 and 30 vehicle during the rampage. He also hit several pedestrians.
Though initial reports said Mane was mentally disturbed, top police officials later dismissed the idea. The motive behind his actions are known.
As some members of the public and the police chased him, Mane sped over pavements and rammed through barricades.
The police urged him at least four times to stop the vehicle and fired at the vehicle. Mane is estimated to have driven for more 20 kilometres.
Beaten up
"While returning after dropping my children at the school, I saw an accident that had taken place near the Phoolgate and police van was speeding past me. After learning what had happened, some other citizens and I joined the police in chasing Santosh Mane as he sped away in the bus," a resident Suryavanshi said.
When the bus stopped at the Neelam theatre, Sharif Ebrahim Kutty — who had chased the bus on his motorcycle pulled Mane out and handed him over to the police who arrived on the scene soon after. Mane was beaten up by citizens before being handed over to the police. Talking to the media, Pune's Police Commissioner Meeran Borwankar said Mane used a master key to gain access to the bus.
She added that Mane would be charged with murder while Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar urged people not to panic.
Nationalist Congress Party's Member of Parliament Supriya Sule, who visited the families of those killed and injured at the state-run Sassoon Hospital, urged the Maharashtra government to come out with a road safety policy similar to one already announced by the Tamil Nadu government.
