Mid-Day

Mumbai, Jun 21: It was a favour that went horribly wrong for 42-year-old Shiva Prasad Singh, a driver with the Thane Municipal Transport (TMT).

He was pitching in for an absent colleague, but ended up with an injured ankle and bruises.

At 11.45 pm on Tuesday night, a mob of around 500 people pelted stones at TMT buses near Thane station and beat up drivers, after Singh lost control of his bus and killed a passenger.

The frenzy started when around 40 passengers on route number 59 from Thane station lost their cool when their bus was delayed.

“When the driver of the bus was not around, I was told to pull up the bus to the corner of the road. They were angry, as there was a delay. As I was starting the bus, some passengers tried to pull me out,” said Singh.

“That is when the driver suddenly lost control of the bus and hit a passenger,” said Assistant Police Inspector Ashok Naik of the Thane Town police.

In the frenzy that followed in the next hour, the mob pelted stones at buses and beat up drivers. The situation was de-fused only by 12.45am. By then a couple of TMT drivers had been injured and several buses damaged. 

Singh said some of the passengers who pulled him out of the bus were drunk. “When they pulled me out, my foot was on the clutch. I lost my grip on it and that’s how the bus surged ahead. So how is the accident my mistake,” asked Singh.

The unidentified man was taken to Thane Civil hospital where he later succumbed to his injuries.

Meanwhile, Singh has been arrested and booked under Sections 279 and 304 A for negligence leading to death.