BEST’s wet-lease driver arrested after conductor crushed between buses in Andheri

V Narayan & Somit Sen

Mumbai: DN Nagar police arrested BEST driver Shashikant Basavaraj Dhasade (30), attached with the wet-leasing model in which a contractor owns and operates the bus, in connection with the death of his colleague conductor Shekar Rautya (53), who got crushed between two BEST buses on JP Road in Andheri (West) on Thursday afternoon.

Police said the incident occurred after a tree fell on Caesar Road, leading to a traffic jam and a collision involving four BEST buses. Rautya got trapped between the third and fourth bus when he stepped out to check the reason for the collision.

DN Nagar police arrested Dhasade after accessing closed-circuit television (CCTV) camera footage sought from the fourth BEST bus, which collided with the third BEST bus. A police officer of the DN Nagar police station said, “Dhasade has been booked under the BNS sections 106 (causing death due to negligence), 281 (rash driving), and under the Motor Vehicle Act section 184 (dangerous driving). He has been released on bail. It is learned that the BEST has initiated an inquiry against Dhasade. We have sought the detailed experience of Dhasade to drive the bus to find out the reason behind the negligence. He was arrested after going through the CCTV footage that showed he reversed the bus when Rautya was crossing from between the third and the fourth bus.”

Rautya’s final rites were performed on Friday in Virar, where he resided with his three sons and wife, while his elder daughter is married. On Thursday, he had left his Virar home at 4 or 5 am to join the first shift after he got a new rota after rescheduling his second shift, which was till Wednesday.

The incident occurred at 1.05 pm, and Rautya spoke with his second son at 12 noon. Deceased’s son Prathamesh told TOI, “I had left for work at 12 noon and an hour later I received a call asking to rush to Cooper Hospital informing that my father has been admitted. My father spoke with my younger brother an hour before the incident occurred. Early the cops did not informed that my father has died. After repeatedly inquiring they revealed that he has passed away before admission at the hospital. We seek justice from the BEST and the police for my father’s death. My brother had asked him to bring milk when he return home after work. He was very jolly person. We are yet to come to terms for the loss. It is still confusing which drivers fault led to my father’s death. Because when I saw the CCTV I thought it was the fourth bus that accelerated. However, the cops have blamed it was the third bus driver’s fault who reversed the bus and my father got trapped,”

A BEST committee member, requesting anonymity, said the conductor’s death was unfortunate. “The police and BEST should question the bus drivers to find out what exactly happened, as there were four buses back to back and this conductor (of one of the buses) had got down and met with the mishap.”

While there was no information available about the drivers of these buses, BEST panel member Nitin Nandgaonkar said most wet lease drivers have not received proper training besides working under stressful conditions. “These drivers are hired from third party contractor and not directly by wet lease operators. There should be proper training of these drivers on safe driving skills and road safety. Also, they are paid low salaries,” he added.