Pune, Jan. 25: A driver of a state-run utility today hijacked an empty bus and went on a maniacal ride through the streets of Pune, killing eight persons, smashing through anyone and anything that came in his way and triggering a 15km chase in which police fired at least 10 rounds.
Santosh Mane, 40, a driver with the Maharashtra state transport bus service, was eventually overpowered by a college student but not before he left a trail of destruction.
Five men and three women were killed. The youngest was 19-year-old Pooja Patil who was on her way to college, and the oldest Antush Tikone and Milind Gaikwad, both 46. At least four were aged 25 or below.
Among the 30 injured is 10-year-old Rishi Khandelwal. At least 38 vehicles were damaged.
Relatives and at least one doctor said Mane suffered from a mental ailment. A government doctor who examined him today suggested the driver was under the influence of alcohol. But Sharif Kutty, the student who caught Mane, told The Telegraph he did not get any indication that the driver was drunk when he grappled with him.
Dilip Burte, a doctor in Solapur, said Mane had been brought by his family to his clinic 18 months ago. "I don't recall his exact medical condition but he had told me that he had insomnia, loss of appetite and that he doubted everybody and everything," Burte told The Telegraph.
Burte said he had prescribed medication for Mane for about a month, but the patient did not return for further consultations. "I assumed that he had become well," he said.
Mane's brother Jagan told PTI from his village Kavthade, near Solapur, that "it is true that he was mentally disturbed, but we had no idea his ailment would cost so many lives. Otherwise, we would have stopped him from driving."
Police sources said Mane appeared calm and composed when questioned after the incident. He told the police that he felt darkness before his eyes sometimes and would feel as if he had no control over his body, the sources said. He has been charged with murder, attempt to murder, causing grievous hurt, theft by a government employee and damage to property.
On the cot of the restroom that Mane had occupied on the night before the incident, his colleagues found a form with his clothes. It was an application for a loan of Rs 60,000 for "religious reasons".
Fellow drivers at the depot said that this reason was usually given by drivers to get loans when in dire need as it does not require documentary proof.
Others said Mane had been harassed by his seniors after an accident a few months ago. "He was suspended from duty for some time without being given any salary. He had recently reported back to work and wanted a route which passed through his village in Solapur. We usually prefer such routes so that our family members can give us tiffin. He was refused that route and was upset," said a colleague.
Mane had been working as a driver with the state transport service since 1999. A native of Solapur, Mane lost his wife over a year ago. He has three children by his first marriage. He remarried and has a son by his second wife, family members said.
According to Ajit Limaye, the Swargate depot manager, Mane had returned from duty on Tuesday evening from Gangapur, around 400km from Pune after a 12-hour shift. He was to report for duty on Wednesday morning at 10.15am.
Instead, he reached the depot at 7.30am, apparently walking out of a room reserved on the premises for drivers to rest, and got into a parked red bus, whose driver had gone to report his arrival at the depot office.
Then the deadly run began.
"He crushed two persons inside the depot and came out from the exit. A parked autorickshaw, a Tata Sumo, a fruit car, two-wheelers were all crushed as he continued to drive on the wrong side of the narrow road outside," said Ganesh Nanajkar, a trainee driver.
"We first thought the brakes had failed or a tyre had burst. When the bus came out, I tried to climb into the bus to help the driver pull the handbrake, he kicked my colleague in the chest and pushed me out," Nanajkar said.
The police, alerted in around 15 minutes, chased him in jeeps and motorbikes. They fired 10 rounds at the tyres, aiming to halt the bus. A constable, Bapu Lonkar, climbed the back ladder and slipped into the bus from one of the windows. Kutty had also by then jumped into the bus.
Overpowered, Mane was beaten up by onlookers.
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