Wrong CCTV, wrong bus: Confusion shrouds BMTC conductor assault on student

There is a twist in the case related to the alleged slapping of an 11-year-old student by a BMTC bus conductor last week.

The CCTV footage that purportedly showed the conductor was innocent was likely from a different bus.

On September 15, a class 5 student from Ramagondanahalli government school boarded a BMTC bus to go home. They paid Rs 10 each for a ticket to Tubarahalli. The conductor allegedly issued a ticket to only one of them. When another student asked for his ticket, the conductor asked him to pay again. When he refused, the conductor allegedly slapped him in the face.

Based on the ticket shared by the civic group Whitefield Rising on X, the BMTC reviewed the CCTV footage of the bus on September 16 and claimed the conductor was innocent. However, it has now emerged that the children likely lost the original ticket.

On Tuesday, the boy, his mother, and three schoolmates visited the BMTC central offices where senior officials conducted a re-investigation into the incident. They showed CCTV footage and the bus conductor.

While the children said it was a different conductor, the CCTV footage was also from a different bus.

It has now emerged that the children likely lost the original ticket.

A Whitefield Rising statement said: “A review of the footage clearly indicates that the bus and the conductor identified by BMTC are incorrect. We urge the BMTC to conduct a thorough investigation to identify the bus and the conductor and take action as per its own code of conduct.”

A volunteer said the clip showed schoolkids getting down at Water Woods, which is one stop before the Ramagondanahalli government school. “We firmly believe that the kids aren’t lying,” the volunteer said.

G T Prabhakar Reddi, Deputy Chief Traffic Manager, BMTC, said they didn’t doubt the kids.

The BMTC will now check CCTV footage of all buses that plied on that route from 3.55 pm to 4.25 pm. “But it’s a difficult task and will take us a day or two,” he told DH.

Reddi promised “very serious” action against the conductor if he was found guilty.