PALAKKAD: A daring pre-dawn theft of a KSRTC bus in Palakkad kept the local police and public transport authorities on high alert for more than two hours on Sunday before the vehicle was recovered abandoned about 1.5 km from the bus station.
The incident occurred around 2.50 am when an unidentified person drove away a KSRTC ordinary bus (RNE857) that had been parked outside the Palakkad KSRTC bus station. The bus was eventually traced near Mangalam Tower around 5.15 am. The Palakkad Town South Police registered a case and launched an investigation. The suspect remains unidentified and at large.
According to KSRTC staff, the vehicle was parked outside the station as part of routine overnight parking arrangements. “The bus was parked on Link Road outside the KSRTC bus station. Around 2.50 am, we saw a person driving away the vehicle very fast. We immediately realised that it had been stolen and alerted the police patrol team stationed in front of the bus stand,” Nasar Ali K, the shunting driver who had parked the bus, told TNIE.
Following the alert, police personnel, KSRTC staff and shunting drivers launched a search operation separately. While one team accompanied the police patrol, another led by the station supervisor searched different parts of the town. Several employees also searched for the vehicle on motorcycles.
“By around 5am, we had almost lost hope and we went to the Town South Police Station to register a complaint. Shortly afterwards, we received information that the police team found the bus parked near Mangalam Tower on the wrong side of the road,” a senior KSRTC official said.
When asked about how the miscreant started the vehicle, the authorities said: “Since the bus was old, it didn’t require a key. “If someone knows how to ignite it, the vehicle could be started using the press button,” the officer added.
Officials said the bus sustained substantial damage during the incident. The vehicle hit two compound walls and a roadside tea shop near Melamuri, heavily damaging the right side of the bus. The police, however, have not found any identifying traces about the miscreant from the vehicle.
Police are examining CCTV footage from the bus station and surrounding areas to identify the suspect and establish how the bus was taken from the parking area without being intercepted. The motive behind the theft remains unclear.
An illegal parking practice for a long time
The incident has also drawn attention to the longstanding practice of parking KSRTC buses illegally outside the bus station due to space constraints.
Senior station officials said that this was the first reported case of a KSRTC bus being stolen from Palakkad. However, they acknowledged that between 35 and 38 buses are routinely parked overnight on Link Road outside the station because of inadequate parking space within the depot premises.
“We do not have sufficient space inside the compound. Around 110 buses are parked within the station every night, while 105 services, including about 40 interstate services, operate during night hours. As a result, buses scheduled for morning services from Palakkad are parked outside the station. We know it is illegal, but we have no other option,” a senior official said.
