Delhi road turns war zone: Mob fury, arson in Nangloi as DTC bus chasing another ploughs into vehicles, kills 2

NEW DELHI: A speeding DTC cluster bus, while trying to overtake another, ploughed into several vehicles and caused the death of two persons in west Delhi's Nangloi on Monday morning. The series of accidents, during which a scooterist was dragged 100 metres by the bus, incensed commuters and locals, who set a bus on fire and damaged several others.

The bus driver, who had fled, was later detained.


"A DTC cluster bus coming from the Najafgarh side rammed into a Scooty, a motorcycle, a hand rickshaw and pedestrians on the busy stretch," a senior police officer said. Two men — Ravi Kant Sharma (32) from Nihal Vihar who was riding the Scooty, and Kamal Jeet (39) from Shiv Ram Park who was on a motorcycle — died. Two others — Aman (23) and his friend Ruby (20), who was riding pillion on his bike — were injured.

Eyewitnesses and residents said the bus was being driven recklessly and was at a high speed on a narrow road. It was trying to overtake another bus when the crash happened. Sharma got trapped under a bus tyre and was hauled for nearly 100 metres before the bus stopped. Local people and family members of those who died said that the driver deserted the bus and fled. Passengers pulled out Ravi from under the bus and took him to a hospital.

When TOI went to the spot, blood stains, tyre drag marks, shattered glass shards and broken vehicle parts marked the accident site near the Amanpur turn, a stretch lined with residential buildings, schools and small mechanic shops.

Soon after the accident, about 500 people gathered at the site and vandalised the bus. They allegedly also set ablaze another DTC cluster bus, coming from the Nangloi side. The vandalism went on for nearly an hour.

The mob shattered the windows of several buses. DTC officials said that at least five buses were damaged.

Two FIRs were registered. One was against the detained driver, Deepak, for causing the fatal accident. The other was against unidentified persons who vandalised the buses.

Local people blamed multiple factors for the crash, saying that rash driving by DTC drivers was common in the area.

Poonam, a resident, said: "The road is already narrow, barely wide enough for two cars, yet buses often speed and try to overtake each other. There are hardly any consequences for them." Residents also pointed to the absence of traffic police personnel on the entire stretch from Rishal Garden to Shiv Ram Park and Najafgarh Chowk. According to them, the lack of their presence has emboldened the bus drivers.