BENGALURU: The traumatised drivers of the burnt buses of KPN Travels found a saviour in a Kannadiga lorry owner. He took them safely to Tamil Nadu in a sealed container lorry in the wee hours of Wednesday.
A proud Kannadiga, B Shivanna, who runs his own transportation business in the City, went out of his way to help 31 drivers cross the Karnataka border and enter Hosur by transporting them in his vehicle.
Narrating the incident to Express, D Damodharan, president of Bengaluru Tamil Sangam, said, “The drivers rushed to Rajarajeshwari Nagar police station after the incident. They were shocked and upset and insisted on returning to their hometowns in Tamil Nadu.” Out of fear, the drivers camped at the station until midnight and refused to budge, he said.
“The Sub-Inspector at the station said he cannot help them reach Tamil Nadu. Top officials could not be reached despite numerous attempts,” Damodharan said.
Meanwhile, Shivanna, who runs Shiva Travels in Chamarajpet, heard about the plight of these drivers and contacted N Ramachandran, founder-president of Kannada Tamil Harmony and Social Welfare Trust and expressed his interest to help the drivers.
Ansar, Manager of KPN Travels, said, “Shivanna took a great risk and helped our staff. We are indebted to him. We just wanted someone to help us cross the border between the two States at Attibele. We were willing to transport our men in our vehicles beyond that.” Shivanna did not charge us even a rupee for his service, he added.
Shivanna reached D’Souza Nagar along with a driver and a cleaner at 9.30 pm. Four drivers were picked up from there and the rest were picked up from the police station around 1.30am. They got delayed a bit at the station as the drivers had to complete the formalities. “He left them at the Hosur KPN office at 3.30am and returned to the City,” Ansar added.