Five Arrested for Hijacking Belgaum-bound Private Bus

Bangalore, Sep 11 (TOI): A hijack drama enacted by five youths who were in an inebriated state on Thursday night along the Tumkur Road came to an abrupt end within 7km.

The RMC yard police with the help of Hoysala police quickly swung into action after being alerted by the driver of the private bus which was sought to be hijacked and arrested the culprits.

The 40 passengers of the Belgaum-bound Vinayaka Travels bus then continued their journey in another bus.

The arrested persons are Vasanth kumar (25), Harish (26), HG Thimmegowda (25), L Manjunath (28), Manish (21), all from Nelamangala. All the five were going in a Zen car after attending a marriage function in the city and all were completely drunk.

At about 12.30 am, they had an altercation with the bus driver near Govardhan Theatre in Yeshwanthpur on the issue of overtaking as the traffic was heavy on Tumkur Road. Then Vasanth Kumar and Harish, stopped the car, got down and got into the bus and all of a sudden pushed the driver Umesh Nayak aside and boarded the bus telling the passengers that the driver of the bus has been changed!

Vasanth Kumar sat in the driver's seat and drove the bus away. The others followed the bus in their car. In the meantime, driver Umesh Nayak took an auto and rushed to the RMC yard police station and complained about the hijack. The police through a walkie-talkie contacted the Hoysala vehicle and the Hoysala jeep went in hot pursuit of the bus and was able to stop it near the Parle-G biscuit factory after chasing the bus for nearly 6-7 kilometres.