BHUBANESWAR: The staffers of a private transport company were allegedly kidnapped by a 35-year-old bus driver on Saturday night. The accused has been identified as Bashir Khan, a former employee of the same company.
The sequence of events started at a petrol pump located at Governor House Square where the bus was parked. The bus staffers were sleeping inside the vehicle when Khan, accompanied by four others, drove the bus up to Bhuasuni on the outskirts of the city. When the staffers realised that the bus was hijacked, they offered resistance but were assaulted by the accused. Later, two motorcyclists reached Pitapali Square where Khan and his accomplices de-boarded the bus and damaged it. They, then, abandoned the vehicle and fled with the motorcyclists.
According to sources, Khan was employed as a driver with the same company but lost his job owing to differences with the owner a couple of years back. He had nursed a grudge since then and committed the act to avenge his ouster from the company. Khandagiri police registered a case and launched a search to nab the accused.