Bus driver among 4 booked for assaulting women, other passengers in Pilibhit

Pilibhit: A case was filed against the driver of a Jaipur-bound bus and three others on Sunday for allegedly assaulting female passengers and those who intervened, police said. The incident took place around 8.30 pm on Saturday when the driver, Zaheer Ahmad, stopped the bus on NH-731.Assistant regional transport officer Virendra Singh told TOI that the bus, registered in Arunachal Pradesh and owned by a Jaipur-based operator, was running illegally. “It was carrying individual passengers on a tourist permit, which is not allowed. The bus has been impounded, and action is being taken to suspend its registration and the driver’s licence,” he said.The complainant, a 40-year-old man from a village under Neuria police station, said his daughter was assaulted by the driver and his associate, Sarwar Ahmad. When he and other passengers tried to intervene, they were attacked with sticks by two other men, Lala Pahalwan and Talib Pahalwan. When passengers began screaming for help, the men issued threats of dire consequences and fled, the complainant alleged.SHO Pramendra Kumar said, “The FIR was lodged under BNS sections 109(1) (attempt to murder), 74 (assault on a woman with intent to outrage her modesty), 115(2) (causing hurt), 352 (intentional insult) and 351(3) (criminal intimidation).”