Iron pipe of culvert pierced Volvo bus diesel tank: AP CID

Probe agency looks into bus distributor's culpability in tragedy

The Andhra Pradesh Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is adopting a multi-disciplinary approach in the investigation of the Volvo bus accident case. 

The police is now digging deep, to examine the criminal culpability of the Volvo bus manufacturer and their distributors, owners of the bus, officials of the Regional Transport Authority in Bangalore who gave the permit, the bus operator Jabbar Travels, officials of the Regional Transport Authority in Hyderabad, the officials in the National Highways Authority of India and the contractors who built the road.     

Interrogation

According to T Krishna Prasad, Additional Director General of Police, four people from Jabbar Travels - Syed Akram Ahmed, Shabbir Khan, Amanullah Khan and Mohammed Rafeeq, arrested from Bangalore two days ago, are being questioned on issues related to the method of reserving seats, preparation of passenger list and procedure adopted for booking luggage on long-haul buses.

The CID, in a release, explained the events of October 30 at about 5 am on the Volvo bus bearing number AP 02–TA-0963, belonging to Jabbar Travels, Bangalore, driven by Fairoz Basha. It said that the bus dashed against a culvert on the median near Palem village. Due to the impact, the iron pipe of the culvert pierced the diesel tank of bus and due to forcible dragging and friction, sparks were produced which in turn resulted in flames from the diesel in the tank and cargo items. 

The diesel, due to piercing by the iron pipe, started spilling all over. The flames emanating from the burning diesel and cargo items engulfed the bus from all sides. 

The passengers who were in deep sleep had no chance to escape, resulting in the death of 45 passengers (including a child). The remaining six passengers could react quickly and escaped with burn injuries.  The tragedy was over in less than 20 minutes.

Case registered

A case was registered in Kothapet police station. On October 31, the driver of the bus, Fairoz Basha and Shakeel Jabbar, owner of Jabbar Travels, were arrested and sent to judicial custody. 

The CID has taken up the investigation of the case and special teams have been formed for further investigation. During the investigation, the CID team visited Bangalore and arrested four employees of Jabbar Travels, who are being sent to judicial custody.

The CID has tightened the noose around Jabbar Travels and other suspects, including Diwakar Roadlines, in the Volvo bus mishap case by adding Sections 468, 471 (forgery) and 201 (destroying evidence). 

The CID is focusing on documents like the lease agreement between Jabbar Travels and Diwakar Roadlines. The police will check if the documents were created to escape investigation after the mishap.