Elderly man injures legs while trying to board BMTC bus

An elderly man says he suffered leg injuries after a BMTC driver sped off without giving him enough time to board the bus.

The driver barely halted the bus near the designated stop because he didn’t want to miss the traffic signal which was about to turn red.

The victim, B Shreepathy Rao, a resident Venkatadri Layout, Bannerghatta Road, has filed a police complaint, naming the driver and conductor of the bus. He said his injuries were not serious but he was still filing a complaint because other passengers faced the same problem.

The incident happened at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium bus stop, Queen’s Circle, on August 23.

Rao was waiting for a bus home. Around 9.20 pm, a bus of route number 150 (registration number KA 01/FA 1972) arrived at the bus stop but didn’t halt. Rao waved at the bus but the driver didn’t pull in.

Rao had to run to catch the bus. But just as he tried to board the bus, the driver sped off without giving him enough time to get on board. Rao somehow got into the bus by clutching the iron bar. Hadn’t he done that, he would have been run over by the bus, Rao said. He still suffered injuries to both legs.

The conductor had no answer when Rao asked him as to why he didn’t tell the driver to stop the bus. When confronted, the driver told Rao that he sped off because the signal was about to turn red and he didn’t want that to happen.

According to Rao, the driver warned to take him to the police if he escalated the matter. It didn’t end there. The driver refused to stop the bus at the Halasuru Gate police station when Rao requested him. Rao eventually got off at Corporation Circle and went home.

On Wednesday, he filed a complaint with Cubbon Park police, which have registered a case and are investigating it. Rao also accused the driver of not closing the door when the bus was moving and said there was no mandatory first aid kit in the vehicle.

Rao also complained to the BTMC authorities.