Mumbai, Dec 10 (UNI) A court here on Tuesday remanded the BEST bus driver Sanjay More, whose EV mowed down 49 people, killing seven, and crashed into over 30 vehicles, to police custody till December 21.
More (50) was arrested early today on multiple charges including culpable homicide not amounting to murder for the mayhem that occurred around 9.30 pm on Monday night.
During preliminary questioning, More admitted that he was barely trained for 10 days before being deployed to drive the bus on its daily trips and narrated that he lost control of the bus as he had no experience in driving the sophisticated and automated EVs.
Discounting last night’s eyewitness reports alleging that More was inebriated, tentative medical reports suggested that he was not drunk and was fully alert, but his blood samples have been sent for medical analysis.
A team of forensic experts and the Regional Transport Office towed the electric bus from the building compound and launched checks to verify if there were any mechanical defects that could have led to the fatal disaster.
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis announced a compensation of Rs five lakh to the kin of each of seven deceased and full medical treatment expenses of all the injured in the tragedy, while Deputy CM Ajit Pawar assured that the matter would be thoroughly probed and the guilty shall be punished.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray, Nationalist Congress Party (SP) Working President Supriya Sule, Congress Working President M Arif Naseem Khan and other Maha Vikas Aghadi leaders demanded a complete inquiry into the tragedy and the most stringent action against the culprit (s).
Among the seven dead, six have been identified as: Kaniz Fatema Ansari (55), Afreen A Shaikh (19), Anam Shaikh (18), Farooque Chaudhari (54), Shivam Kashyap (18) and Vijay Gaikwad (70), said the BMC.
Among the 49 injured, seven are reported to be critical, six were discharged, and the remaining continue to be under treatment in various civic, government and private hospitals.
The BEST has announced a compensation of Rs two lakh to the kin of each of the deceased and set up a probe committee headed by Chief Manager Ramesh Madavi.
A BJP delegation called on BEST General Manager Anil Diggikar and demanded a compensation of Rs 10 lakh to the families of each deceased person and up to Rs two lakh for all the injured persons.
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