Transport Commissioner Rishi Raj Singh on Tuesday criticised the police for slapping relatively weaker charges against the driver of the private bus involved in the accident with the KSRTC bus, which caused the death of five persons here on Monday.
In a statement, the Transport Commissioner said that as per preliminary inference it was found that the rash and negligent driving by the driver of the private bus had caused the accident.
"However, the Chadayamangalam Police have charged sections 279, 337, 338, 304(a) of IPC in the FIR. At a time when road accidents are on the rise, registering cases under weaker sections of the IPC often leads to the guilty drivers escaping punishment. Police have to enforce stringent measures to check the increasing road accidents,’’ the statement said.
The statement notes that the accident occurred at a turning of the slightly sloped stretch and the private bus had rammed into the KSRTC fast passenger, which was ascending the slope. The roads constructed under the Kerala State Transport Project have a carriage way of 9.5 metres with a centre line and border lines marking 1.5 metres on both sides.
The KSRTC bus was in the right lane and the private bus from the opposite direction had crossed the centre line from the other side and hit the KSRTC bus, damaging the side of the bus. Also, all the deceased were passengers of the KSRTC bus, he said.
In the inspection of the accident spot, no tyre marks were found, which could lead to the presumption that brakes were not applied. He said that the private bus driver could have averted the accident.