PEDDAPALLI: In a bizarre incident, a man was charged Rs 30 as fare for a rooster he was carrying during his travel from Godavarikhani in Peddapalli to Karimnagar on a TSRTC bus on Tuesday. Bus conductor G Tirupathi noticed the rooster at Sultanabad, halfway through the journey. He asked Mohammad Ali, who was carrying the bird, to buy a ticket for it.
Mohammad Ali initially objected, but when the conductor remained firm that he would not allow any passenger to travel without a ticket, he paid up. Tirupathi said that any person travelling in a bus along with any living animal should buy a ticket.A video of the argument between the conductor and Mohammad Ali on whether the rooster can be treated as a passenger or not soon went viral on social media.
When approached, Godavarikhani depot manager V Venkatesh told Express that they are treating the incidence as negligence of the conductor. “Animals are not allowed to travel in RTC buses. The conductor should have remembered that,” Venkatesh said. He said that the passenger had hidden the rooster by wrapping it in a cloth and kept it in a bag.
Venkatesh said that notices would be issued to the conductor and action would be taken based on his response. Fortunately, for the rooster, it reached Karimnagar safe and sound, with only some ruffled feathers to show for its journey.