Samruddhi Expressway bus accident: Amravati RTO report rules out tyre burst, speeding
Amravati (PTI): A tyre burst could not have caused Saturday's bus accident on Samruddhi Expressway, in which 25 persons were charred to death, as there were no pieces of rubber or tyre markings at the scene, the Amravati Regional Transport Office (RTO) stated in its report.
The RTO report, which was based on survivors' accounts, said there was no evidence (rubber pieces of tyres after burst) or tyre markings at the spot, and the impact marking was on the wheel disc, which was bent, and not on the tyre itself.
A bus carrying 33 passengers from Nagpur to Pune on the Samruddhi Expressway overturned and caught fire in Sindkhedraja in Buldhana at 1.32 am, killing 25 occupants.
As per the details provided by one of the survivors, the bus dashed into a steel pole on the right side of the road, leading to the driver losing control of the vehicle, which then hit the divider, the report said.
It further said the impact of the front tyre hitting the divider was so severe that it caused the front axle assembly to dislocate from the bus chassis.
The right side of the vehicle, where the diesel tank is located, again hit the divider, the impact cleaving the bus body, the report said.
After the front axle assembly got dislocated, the front portion of the bus hit the road and the resultant friction generated heat and fire (as engine oil temperature was also high since the bus was in on mode), the report said.
The vehicle then overturned on its left side after getting dragged due to the absence of the front axle, which caused more heat resulting in a blaze, it added.
The bus turning turtle on its left side blocked the passenger entrance-exit and the loss of alignment of the vehicle due to the impact of the accident also made the emergency door inoperative, it said.
The report, however, noted that speed may not have been a cause of the accident since the bus took two hours and 24 minutes to cover the 152-kilometre stretch from the entry point of the Samruddhi Expressway to the spot in Sindkhedraja where the accident took place.
The bus entered the Expressway at 11:08 pm and the accident took place 152 kilometres away at 1:32 am, which means the average speed of the bus was 70 kilometres per hour, the report said.
The bus was on its way from Nagpur to Pune and had started its journey from Vidarbha's largest city at 5pm on Friday.
It was on the Nagpur-Wardha-Yavatmal-Darwha-Karanja(Lad)-Samruddhi Expressway-Pune route, the report said.
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'Contract killing' plot busted in Thane; victim's brother among four held
Thane (PTI): The Thane police have uncovered a "contract killing" plot and arrested four persons, including the victim's younger brother, who allegedly hired the assailants and lodged the complaint to mislead investigators and hide his role in the murder, officials said on Sunday.
The victim, identified as Paresh Tolaram Patil (40), was hacked to death on May 12 over a property dispute, and his brother allegedly paid Rs 10 lakh to the contract killers, an official said.
The same day, Naresh Tolaram Patil (37), an auto-rickshaw driver residing in the Bhiwandi area of Maharashtra's Thane district, lodged a police complaint alleging that his elder brother Paresh had been murdered by unidentified persons.
According to Naresh, his brother was riding his motorcycle to work at Vasai in neighbouring Palghar district when the unidentified assailants intercepted him and assaulted him with sharp weapons, in-charge Superintendent of Police Anmol Mittal said.
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Following the complaint, the Ganeshpuri police registered a case of murder on May 13.
The investigation teams examined several CCTV recordings along the suspected escape routes and used advanced technical surveillance.
The police then traced the registration plate of a vehicle allegedly used by the assailants, leading to the arrest of three alleged contract killers -- Rakesh Bhagwan Patil (37), Premjit Madhukar Gharat (38), and Daksh Bhanukant Bhoir (24) -- from Palghar, the official said.
"During intense interrogation, the three persons confessed to their involvement in the killing. They revealed that the plot was masterminded by the victim's brother, Naresh Patil, who had lodged the initial police complaint to misguide the law enforcement agencies," he said.
According to the official, Naresh Patil confessed to hatching the conspiracy due to an ongoing property dispute with his elder brother and that he had offered Rs 10 lakh to the three accused to eliminate Paresh.
Naresh Patil has also been arrested, and a further probe is underway into the case, they added.
