Sambalpur bus accident: Cleaner 'drove' killer truck

BHUBANESWAR: The truck that rammed into a bus at Babubandh near Sambalpur on Thursday killing 10 people and injuring 20 was allegedly being driven by its cleaner, who doesn't have a driving license.
The matter came to light after an injured passenger in a Bargarh hospital saw the cleaner's photographs in newspapers. "I clearly remember that man's face.He was driving the truck that day. But newspaper reports said he was the cleaner of the truck," said the passenger, who did not want to be identified at this stage. The injured man was sitting on the left side of the bus and thus escaped with minor injuries on his arms and face.
Police suspicion about the untrained cleaner driving the truck grew stronger as the driver's side of the truck was badly damaged though the driver, Bairagi Charan Sahu, a resident of Boinda in Angul district, escaped unhurt. On the contrary, the left side of the truck has suffered no scratch but cleaner, Papu Sahu, has suffered head injuries and fractured his legs. The truck driver's footrest portion was damaged, explaining the cleaner's injuries.
"We are inquiring into the matter all over again. Police will interrogate the cleaner and the driver to ascertain the truth in view of the new facts," said SP (Sambalpur) Nikhil Kanodia.
The truck driver, Sahu, as well as the bus driver, Md Baseer, were sent to judicial custody after police forwarded them to court.
Had the truck been driven by the trained driver, there were good chances that he could have controlled the vehicle, probably averting the accident, said Biswapriya Kanungo, a human rights activist and lawyer. "The 10 deaths could have been avoided," he said.
Kanungo said if the cleaner was driving the vehicle, as is now emerging, he should be booked under Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and the driver should be booked for abetment (Section 109) of the cleaner's crime besides criminal negligence (Section 304A).
The truck belongs to Saroj Mahapatra, a resident of Bargarh. He could not be contacted for comment. But, the Orissa State Truck Owners' Federation has taken up the issue seriously. "From time to time, we blacklist drivers for allowing cleaners to drive the vehicles. Once detected, we tell our members not to engage those blacklisted drivers," said Rabi Satapathy, general secretary of the federation.
"The owners are helpless as once the vehicle is given to the driver, the former has no means to ensure that the latter doesn't allow another person to drive the truck," Satapathy added.