Driver involved in Biocon bus accident yet to be arrested

As the last rites of young Biocon scientist Revathi P R (in pic), who was killed in a road accident on Wednesday were held, there was a pall of gloom around the house on Thursday.

Hundreds of relatives and friends gathered outside her house in Dattatreya Nagar, where her body was kept. Her neighbours too grieved the death of the scientist whom they remembered as a cheerful girl with a smile on her face. She was her parents’ only daughter.

Meanwhile, the police said the driver of the mini bus in which Revathi was killed, is yet to be arrested. Biocon had hired mini buses from Sai Travels in the city. Owner Nagaraj Reddy of the travel firm approached the Electronics City traffic police station. The driver is identified as Saleem and it is learnt that he has fled to his native place. On Friday, Saleem will be arrested and action will be taken against Reddy in case the driver is found to have been driving without a valid licence, said the police.

Before joining Biocon as a scientist, she had interned with them for eight months between December 2013 and July 2014. In the past, this 25-year-old worked as an executive - analytical development (R and D) at Stelis Biopharma. The budding scientist who lost her life in the accident was also a topper, inspiring many. Revathi, who has been working as a scientist in molecular biology with Biocon, was a gold medallist. She was awarded for academic excellence in MSc when she passed out of Bangalore University in 2014.

Taking to Twitter, Biocon MD, Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw said: “One of our employees tragically killed in accident on NICE road. A young life lost to rash driving I share deep grief with her family RIP.” Meanwhile, many colleagues who had seen her minutes before her death were finding it hard to overcome the grief and mourned her death silently.
DH News Service