Silvester D' Souza
Daijiworld Media Network – Kundapur (EP/SP)

Kundapur, Dec 10: The driver and conductor of a private bus accompanied by two passengers allegedly entered a goods truck plying from New Delhi to Mangaluru at Shastri Circle here on Tuesday December 9 morning, and assaulted both the driver and cleaner of the goods lorry.

The truck in question happens to be a multiple axle vehicle with 12 wheels. It belongs to a well-known logistics company. The truck was on its way to Mangaluru with goods that were loaded onto it on Friday. A private bus named 'Someshwara' had come from behind this truck near Herikudru on national highway 66. The bus driver thereafter honked continuously, seeking space to overtake the truck. It is claimed that the truck driver did not make room for the bus to go ahead. The bus driver had made effort to overtake the lorry at Sangam before reaching Shastri Circle, where he tossed a water bottle towards the lorry driver and hurled expletives at him. Having failed in his efforts to to overtake the lorry there, he finally succeeded in overtaking the truck at Shastri Circle, where he blocked the truck by stopping his bus across the truck.

The bus driver and conductor then reportedly entered the lorry and assaulted its driver and cleaner Chandru,besides tearing off their clothes. The locals who tried to stop the assaulters failed to do so, as they were inno mood to listen. Meanwhile the traffic police who were nearby also tried to intervene but the furious bus staff did not relent.

The police took both the vehicles to the police station and obtained complaints from the victims of assault. The driver of the truck, identified as Nagaraja, and cleaner have got themselves admitted into the government hospital here for treatment.

The locals expressed the opinion that the menace of private buses has become a nuisance for road users of late and the bus drivers even ignore policemen and their instructions. If this highhandedness is allowed to be continued, traffic scenario in the region will worsen, they warned. M N Gopal, an eyewitness to the bad behaviour on the part of the bus staff, said that the bus employees were not right in assaulting the staff of the truck. He felt that the police should take strict action against the bus employees for taking law into their hands..

The traffic was in disarray for about half an hour due to the said unexpected incident and also because the bus driver had stopped his bus right in the middle of the road. Local police sub-inspector, Nasir Hussain, and traffic sub-inspector of police, Imran, worked together to ease the congestion and pave way for smooth traffic flow. A long queue of vehicles stranded on the road because of the said incident could be seen to a length of about a kilometre on both sides of Shastri Circle.