21 December,2024 07:08 AM IST | Mumbai | Apoorva Agashe
Sanjay More, driver of the electric bus involved in the Dec 9 mishap, produced in court. File pic
Sanjay More, the accused in the Kurla bus tragedy, has claimed that he saw a spark before losing control of the electric vehicle that mowed down pedestrians on SG Barve Marg on the night of December 9. However, Ganesh Gawade, DCP, Zone V, told mid-day that reports from both the BEST and RTO found no fault with the automatic vehicle.
Advocate Samadhan Sulane, More's lawyer told mid-day on Friday, "The Kurla police allowed me to speak with More today, and the first thing he told me was to get him out of jail. He told me that he saw a spark while driving the bus and got scared, causing him to lose control of the automatic bus. More also said that he had no experience driving such vehicles."
The site of the recent accident at Kurla West. File pic
Soon after the incident, the Kurla police arrested More, 54. During the investigation, it was revealed that More had received only about five minutes' training on how to operate an electric bus.
Cop Speak
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DCP Gawade refuted the accused's claims, stating, "Reports from the RTO and BEST suggested that the bus had no mechanical faults. We also sent More's blood sample to the laboratory to check whether he was intoxicated and it tested negative. Physiological tests were also conducted on him. He is mentally fit. We are investigating the matter."
Sulane said the cops will not book BEST officials or the wet-lease subcontractor. "However, they should be booked as no sufficient training had been provided to my client," the lawyer said. Asked about this, an officer said, "We are still investigating the matter and have arrested the driver as it was due to his negligence that the accident took place. We will not book the BEST or subcontractor in this matter."
Death toll rises
On December 19, 22-year-old victim Mehtab Shaikh was declared dead by Sion hospital. His is the ninth life lost in the tragedy, which left 49 injured.
