KOCHI: Hours after the state government ordered to confiscate the bus after a brutal assault on passengers, Kallada Travels owner Suresh Kallada said his staff did not start the fight but were only reacting to the assault started by the passengers. He admitted the action by the staff was regrettable.
In his statement, Suresh said after the bus was stopped due to a mechanical issue at Haripad, the Travels arranged an alternate vehicle from Vyttila.
“It takes two hours for the bus to reach Haripad from Vyttila. In the meantime, the three passengers identified in FB post and TV channels assaulted one my bus crew members, who is over 50 years old. He is admitted to the Haripad Government Hospital with injuries,” said Suresh in his statement.
“After the alternate bus reached Vyttila, the said passengers barged into our office and assaulted staff on duty for no fault of his. We have intimated about both the assaults to the respective police stations and are yet to receive any updates on the same,” said Suresh.
“The subsequent reactive assault by our staff at Vyttila was regrettable as we have always maintained that passengers are the backbone of this industry,” said Suresh. “We assure that strict actions should be initiated against those responsible for the assault on passengers. We have suspended the employees responsible pending investigation,” he added.