BENGALURU: In a shocking incident, a 43-year-old BMTC conductor was charred to death when the bus in which he was sleeping caught fire. The incident happened at Group D Employees’ Layout bus stand at Lingadheeranahalli in Byadarahalli police station limits around 4.45 am Friday.
The reason for the fire is yet to be ascertained. BMTC officials stated that there was no problem with the bus and it was in best running condition. But, the police are not ruling out the possibility of some foul play. The incident was noticed by night beat policemen.
The victim has been identified as Muthaiah alias Muthaiah Swamy, a resident of Bagalkot. He joined BMTC 14 years ago. He was sleeping in the bus attached to Sumanahalli Depot No. 31. He was the conductor of the bus route No 243L/1 plying between Lingadheeranahalli and Majestic. The BMTC made arrangements at the bus stop for the driver and conductor to sleep after work.
Driver comes out of room, notices fire
Bus driver Prakash (39) slept in a room at the bus stop. But the victim preferred to sleep in the bus.
Prakash, in his statement to the police, stated that he stopped the bus at the designated stop at 10.20 pm on Thursday and slept in the room.
He claimed to have seen the fire when he came out of the room to use the washroom. He immediately raised an alarm. But, it was too late by then. The CCTV footage from the vicinity showed fire breaking out in the bus all of a sudden around 4.40 am, said a police officer.
Experts from the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) and Electrical Inspectorate visited the spot. The conductor’s body was shifted to Victoria Hospital’s mortuary. Further investigation is on.