HYDERABAD: A drunk man “hijacked” an RTC bus with around 15 passengers on board in Vikarabad district on Sunday night. When the bus halted at the Tandur bus station and the driver and conductor alighted to relieve themselves, the unidentified man drove off with the bus. As passengers raised an alarm, he stopped the vehicle midway, abandoned it and fled.
The bus belonging to Tandur depot was going from Tandur to Karankote. Minutes after the “hijacker” started driving the bus, passengers realised there was no conductor. The man replied that there was no conductor to the bus and asked passengers to pay for their tickets. Soon passengers panicked when the drunk man began driving the bus in a rash manner. Suspecting that he was not the actual driver and under the influence of alcohol, they began yelling. This enraged the hijacker and he got into an argument with the passengers. Later, he stopped the bus in the middle of the road on Hyderabad’s outskirts and ran away. The incident lasted for about 20 minutes.
The bus passengers alerted the depot manager. Meanwhile, the bus driver, conductor and RTC staff who were searching for the bus, got to know of the abandoned bus and rushed to the spot. They transported the passengers back safely. Based on a complaint by driver Ilaiah, a theft case was registered and special teams have been deputed to nab the offender, said Inspector Tandur town police station S Ravi Kumar.