02-05-2025
Three assault PMPML driver, damage his cellphone & vandalise windscreen
Pune: Three men abused and attacked a PMPML bus driver with a belt, damaged his cellphone and vandalised the windscreen of the bus following a quarrel over the bus racing past their bike on Saswad-Hadapsar Road around 4:50pm on May 1.
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Nitik Khadke (35), the bus driver and a resident of Moshi, lodged a complaint with the Hadapsar police.
Assistant inspector Dipika Jounjal of the Hadapsar police on Friday said the victim was driving PMPML's gas testing bus towards Narveer Tanajiwadi bus terminus at Shivajinagar from Hadapsar. Three men on a bike came in front of the bus and the biker started riding the bike in a zigzag manner, said Dipika, adding that the bus driver raced past the bike.
The biker made numerous attempts to overtake the bus, but in vain.
The police officer said one of the two pillion riders got onto the moving bus from the rear and started quarreling with Khadke. The man pulled out his trouser belt and attacked Khadke. At this point, Khadke had to stop the bus, she said.
When the bus stopped, another pillion rider also entered the bus and snatched driver's phone, damaged it. He also vandalised the front windscreen with a blunt object.
The biker opened the driver's door and abused Khadke. After abusing and beating the driver, the trio sped away, she said.
Khadke, in his complaint, has given the registration number of the bike to the police. A police team is working on certain clues to trace the biker and his accomplices, she added.
The PMPML-owned bus belonged to the Narveer Tanaji terminus. It didn't have any passengers. It had gone to a facility at Handewadi for annual servicing and checking of its CNG tank.
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The bus was on its way back when this incident occurred.
In PMPML, drivers go through a counselling session each day conducted by the depot manager. They are asked about their mental status and health. If something like this happens, they receive proper attention and medical aid. Drivers are told not to initiate anything that results in road rage and be polite. "The incident is unfortunate and we are looking into the same," Kishore Chauhan, the public relations officer of the PMPML, told TOI.
(With inputs from Joy Sengupta)
