City bus drivers in Mangaluru continue to flout orders of top-cop, compromising public safety
A lot has been said about the carelessness and the menace the city bus drivers in Mangaluru has created on the roads of the city leading to multiple fatalities and casualties over the last few years. Several people have died due to overspeeding buses or the carelessness with which these bus drivers ply buses on the road in the city.
Several media reports have been published calling for action against these drivers and regulation for the buses and its drivers to drive with more care and while keeping public safety in mind. But the pleas of these media reports to create the awareness among the drivers have fallen into deaf ears.
Last year, former Commissioner of City Police, Kuldeep Jain, issued an order to cancel a bus stop at Bendorwell junction following a fatal accident involving a city bus. The move aimed to alleviate traffic congestion and enhance pedestrian safety. A banner was prominently displayed at the bus stop, indicating the cancellation of the stop and prohibiting city and government buses from picking up or dropping off passengers at the location.
However, the order was blatantly ignored by bus drivers, who continued to halt at the junction, disregarding the safety directive. Even in the presence of traffic police constables deployed to manage the junction, the drivers persisted in their violations. The banner, meant to inform the public about the order, was torn down, further highlighting the drivers' disregard for the rules. The traffic police almost always turned a blind-eye to these bus drivers flouting the orders of their boss, the top-cop of the city.
Jain was also subsequently transferred from Mangaluru, following which new police commissioner Anupam Agarwal took charge as the new top cop of the city. But that did not change anything, the drivers, kept flouting the order, jeopardizing the public safety and traffic cops kept turning blind eye to the violations.
Despite the confirmation from Jain himself a few days before he was transferred, that the order was in place, its effective implementation remained a challenge. The buses, particularly during peak hours at Bendorewell Circle, caused significant traffic disruptions, inconveniencing the general public. Notably, the drivers displayed aggressive behavior, honking incessantly and resorting to verbal abuse when other vehicles caused delays, asserting their lack of regard for road etiquette and safety.
Vartha Bharati attempted to contact the current Commissioner of Police, Anupam Agarwal, for a comment on the matter. However, Agarwal was unavailable for a response. It will be interesting to see if Agarwal mends the social and road behaviour or these bus drivers or gets a routine transfer like his predecessor Jain while maintaining that “the order is still in place but we are unable to effectively implement it”
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Bengaluru woman groped, beaten, dragged on road after rejecting man’s advances
Bengaluru: A 21-year-old woman was allegedly assaulted in broad daylight in Bengaluru after she rejected repeated relationship advances from a man she had met through social media. The incident, which was captured on CCTV, took place on December 22 around 3.20 pm, NDTV reported.
According to police, the accused, identified as Naveen Kumar, had been in contact with the woman after connecting with her on Instagram earlier this year. While they initially remained in touch through calls and messages, the man reportedly began pressuring her to enter into a relationship, which she refused.
On the day of the incident, the footage shows the woman standing beside a scooty, believed to be an online ride, when the accused arrives at the spot in a car. He is seen taking her purse and checking it before moving towards her and groping her.
The man then repeatedly hits the woman on her head and back and drags her along the road. Despite the presence of two to three bystanders at the scene, no one intervened to help the victim.
The victim later approached the police and filed a complaint. Based on her statement, an FIR was registered, and Naveen Kumar was taken into custody. Police said further investigation is underway.
