Palghar: Asked to drive slowly on potholes filled road, MSRTC driver and conductor attack elderly couple, suspended

MUMBAI: An elderly couple travelling by a Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) bus from Boisar to

Wada

were pushed, dragged, and assaulted by the lady

conductor

and

driver

, after being told to slow down on the potholed Manor-Wada road during their hour-long journey on Friday.

The conductor Sheetal Pawar and driver Gorakhnath Nagargoja have been suspended after a video of the incident went viral. The Wada police registered two cases, one by the couple and the other by Pawar, who alleged being slapped by the 60-year-old woman, said inspector Sudhir Sankhe.

The woman and her 67-year-old husband were returning to their Hamrapur village in Wada. They boarded an MSRTC bus at Boisar. As the journey progressed via the Manor-Wada road, which is filled with potholes, the couple asked the driver to slow down as the bumpy ride was causing them discomfort.

When the bus reached the Wada depot at around 4 pm, the couple alighted. As they walked a distance, dodging the water-filled potholes at the depot, Pawar came from behind and pushed the woman. As she manhandled the woman, her husband tried to intervene.

The video showed Nagargoja coming from behind and joining in the fight. Pawar and Nagargoja pinned down the couple, who fell into the water-filled potholes. They dragged the couple and hurled verbal abuses at them, they said in their police complaint.

Even as a crowd gathered and came to the rescue of the couple, the driver and conductor continued to assault the couple. The couple later registered a case under IPC section 324 (causing hurt) against Pawar and Nagargoja.

Pawar registered a case under IPC sections 353 (obstructing a government servant on duty),427 (mischief) against the couple.

"The ST corporation apologises for this incident. The corporation has taken immediate cognisance and suspended the concerned driver and conductor from service. This incident will be investigated by a high-level committee," Shekhar Channe, vice-chairperson and managing director of MSRTC, said in a statement.

He added that the transport undertaking will never support beating up of passengers by ST employees.

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