Bus conductor 'thrashed' for not diverting route

Bareilly: A conductor of an air-conditioned (AC) bus run by Uttar Pradesh State Roadways Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) has alleged that he was beaten up by supporters of Samajwadi Party (SP) leader and minister Beena Bhardwaj and her son Apoorva Bhardwaj on June 8 for not taking the vehicle through an unscheduled route so that Apoorva could get off at his destination. Bus conductor Sarvesh Kumar now says he is fighting a battle in which the administration is siding with the accused.

Speaking to TOI, Inspector General of Police, Bareilly range, Vijay Singh Meena said, “An inquiry by circle officer (CO) of Milak had been ordered.” Meena said, “Some wrong facts were presented before us by the bus conductor and his supporters and on basis of which FIR against the alleged accused was ordered. However, during inquiry it came to light that the route of the bus as per Area Regional Manager (ARM), roadways, is through Milak and through the bypass as was done by the bus conductor in this case." Bus conductor Sarvesh Kumar said, “The supporters of the ruling party leader almost killed me after I refused to take the bus to Milak town as per their wish. All roadwaysbuses have scheduled routes. Moreover, AC buses operating between Bareilly and Kaushambi don’t have ticket for Milak. Passengers boarding AC buses on the said route are told without fail to take ticket either to Bareilly or till Rampur as these vehicles will not stop at Milak.”

When TOI asked ARM, Bareilly division, Prabhakar Mishra, about the route of the acbus, he avoided the question, saying, “The media has shown too much interest in the matter. The bus conductor, instead of bringing the matter to the knowledge of senior officials of the department, first decided to handle the matter at his end.”

Minister of state Beena Bhardwaj, from Milak constituency, said, “Apoorva and another relative had boarded the bus at Kaushambi on June 8. While the woman relative got off at Rampur, my son asked the conductor to take the bus through Milak. The conductorrefused. My son then called me to make arrangement for picking him up at Milak bypass, where the conductor misbehaved with him while he was disembarking. Soon, an argument between Apoorva and the conductor ensured. As the locals know Apoorva, they must have beaten up the conductor for misbehaving with my son.”
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