A day after the fatal bus accident in which eight people were killed, Muktsar police on Wednesday arrested the bus driver and the conductor.
Driver Pushpinder Singh of village Phulokhera village and conductor Harjeet Singh of Landewala village of Muktsar district were booked under Sections 304A (causing death by negligence), 279 (rash driving), 337 (causing hurt to any person by doing an act to endanger human life) and 427 (causing mischief) of the IPC.
Eight passengers, including five women, were killed when a private bus fell into the Sirhind feeder canal in Muktsar district on Tuesday afternoon. The accident occurred near Jhabelwali village on the Muktsar-Kotkapura road. The arrests were confirmed by Muktsar SSP Harmanbir Singh Gill said.
The SSP said, “We have booked and arrested them. Even today (Wednesday) the rescue operations were carried out the whole day, but we couldn’t find any body. Water in the canal has been stopped from Harike headworks. By Thursday, the water will recede in the canal and we can fish out bodies, if any, found in the canal. On Wednesday, nets were installed at various points, but no bodies were found. Also, there were no calls at our control room regarding missing persons.”
When asked about the compensation to the families of the deceased, the SSP said, “We will be filling the forms for claims of the deceased, and compensation will be awarded to the kin of the deceased through court. Apart from this, even the bus owner is also liable to pay compensation if the bus is insured.”
Speaking up about the accident and compensation, Muktsar units of BKU Dakaunda and BKU Ugrahan on Wednesday staged a protest at the Warring toll plaza located a few metres from the accident site. Joginder Singh Butter, a union leader, said, “This toll plaza has been charging money for more than five years now, but the bridge hasn’t been widened. The bridge is the same as it was decades ago. So, there should be some accountability on the part of authorities. If the public is paying toll, the infrastructure should improve accordingly.”
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Many of the union leaders like Harphool Singh, Sukhdev Singh, Baldev Singh said the toll plaza won’t operate till the company makes it clear when the bridge will be widened.
When asked about this issue, the Muktsar SSP said, “We have called the team of the toll plaza with all the documents. We will see what is written in the contract. Officials from the district administration, police and toll plaza will have a joint meeting on this. We do understand the pain of the people.”
Meanwhile, the dharna by farmers will continue on Thursday as well. The toll plaza staff had left the toll barrier site soon after the accident on Tuesday and they haven’t returned till the filing of this report.