Mob fury as bus ploughs through crowd in Tiruchy

TIRUCHY: One person was killed and three others, including two students, were injured when a speeding private bus ran into a crowd of waiting passengers at a bus stop, in the city on Tuesday.Soon after the incident, angry members of the public went on a rampage, forcing police to resort to a mild lathi-charge.According to eye-witnesses, the driver of the bus was racing at a high speed with another bus, besides chatting on his mobile phone, when he lost control and mowed down the four around 8.45 am at a bus stop in Bhima Nagar in the heart of the city. The deceased was identified as Sakthivel (55), a vegetable vendor from Murukkukara Street in Bhima Nagar. The injured were  Ramesh (35) of Chetti street in Bhima Nagar, his son Balaji (11) and Farshana (22), a college student from Bhima Nagar.  Sensing public anger, the bus driver D Balaji (27) fled the spot. Enraged public, who gathered at the spot, started pelting stones on both the buses, damaging the windscreens, and resorted to a road blockade demanding the driver’s arrest.  On information, the Palakkarai police led by Inspector Murugavel rushed to the spot and tried to pacify the public. However, the public resorted to a road blockade at Marsingpettai, Bhima Nagar and Bhima Nagar bridge, bringing traffic to a halt for more than two hours at the Cauvery Theatre bridge. A section of the public started pelting stones on other private buses plying in the area. One of the stones which hit a bus bounced back and fell on the head of Inspector Murugavel, who sustained injuries and fell down unconscious. Soon, police resorted to a mild lathi-charge to control the mob. City Police Commissioner Shailesh Kumar Yadav, Deputy Commissioners of Police S Jayapandian (Law and Order) and S Ramaiya (Crime and traffic), RDO Sampath and other officials rushed to the spot.The injured Inspector was rushed to the GH, while the other injured persons were taken to private hospitals.  Later, the police arrested the bus driver Balaji. MLAs R Manoharan and M Paranjothi visited the spot and consoled the relatives of accident victim Sakthivel.