Coming out heavily against the incident in which a road roller collided with a KSRTC bus two weeks ago, the KSRTC Drivers Union alleged that the road roller was operating without license at the time of the incident.
They alleged that the police have let the owners of the road roller scot-free. According to drivers union, the police have booked a case against the driver of the KSRTC superfast bus plying between Thottilpalam to Thiruvananthapuram, along the Kalamassery National Highway on October 27.
Fifteen passengers along with the driver were injured in the incident. The Union stated that the driver was not responsible for the collision.
“The police immediately took action against the driver, however, the owner of the road roller was not booked for the offence. We have sufficient photographic proof to prove to the authorities that the road roller was functioning without a license plate. However, on further enquiry on the issue, we learned that the road roller, which was produced before the police, was stealthily swapped and now had a different license plate,” the State Organising secretary of the KSRTC Drivers Union A V Boban alleged. He said that the police themselves always acted against the KSRTC bus drivers during accidents, even, when the drivers were not at fault.
The driver, Raghu, has lodged a complaint to the KSRTC Managing Director pleading his innocence. He said that the road roller was lying idle at an unauthorised location at the Junction.
He added that the KSRTC enquiry officers also played a role in projecting him as the guilty. Meanwhile, the Union alleged that the road roller was used by the Kochi Metro Rail sub-contractors for the road widening work of the Kalamassery-Aluva stretch. However, speaking on the allegations, DMRC spokesperson said that the sub-contractor who works for the Kochi metro is also a contractor for another government agency.
“ On that day, the sub-contractor had used the road roller for the other agency’s work. The incident took place after the roller was being brought from the work site. And hence, we have no role in this incident,” he clarified.