A woman has accused a BMTC conductor of detaining her inside the bus 'for more than 45 minutes' despite the presence of police in Yelahanka on Wednesday.
Rhea Ahuja, a resident of Yelahanka, and her friend, Ojasvi Singh, boarded a BMTC bus (KA-F-8022). On her Facebook page wall, Ahuja said she was returning home from college when the conductor picked up a fight with Singh for standing by her side in the ladies' section. She further alleged that the conductor began to poke and push Singh. When Singh fought back, the conductor allegedly pushed him to the floor of the bus. She said that soon a mob surrounded Singh, so he fled.
Ahuja stayed in the bus since she needed to return home. Then the conductor decided to halt in front of the Yelahanka Police Station. Soon, a policeman was at her window asking for Singh's details. "I told him it was already 7.30 pm and being a woman it was illegal for him to take me to the station," she said. Despite the crowd's hounding her to alight, Ahuja said she stood her ground and refused. "Soon, the bus was empty and the conductor decided to lock me inside the bus. I ordered him to release me but he refused." After almost an hour, Singh arrived, and Ahuja was released.
Deputy commissioner of police (North East) PS Harsha said, "The two boarded the bus around 7.20 pm and Singh sat next to Ahuja on a seat reserved for women. The conductor asked him to vacate the seat, but he refused." A fight broke out between the two and apparently on the insistence of passengers, the conductor drove to the police station, but Singh escaped. He alleged that it was the passengers who locked the bus and that Ahuja was inside the bus for 'barely five minutes'.
"Since she publicly posted about the incident, we contacted her to file a plaint but she refused. Considering her FB statement, we registered an FIR and arrested the conductor, Umashankar," Harsha said. The accused was produced in court. "Similarly, based on Umashankar's complaint, we have registered a case against Singh for assault to deter a public servant from discharge of his duty," he said.
BMTC MD, Ekroop Caur
The conductor was not at fault. The girl had come with her male friend and they were sitting in front row of the bus which is reserved for women. According to rules, seat reserved for women cannot be occupied by males. The conductor of the bus told the boy to go to the rear end of the bus.
Along with the conductor even the co-passengers asked the boy to follow the instructions but he did not listen to them and started abusing the conductor and pushed him on the floor. The crew of the bus immediately took the bus to the nearest police station to file a complaint against the boy.
ut as the bus reached the station, the boy managed to escape. It is not known whether the crew of the bus confined the girl inside the bus. Police are investigating the incident. We are awaiting the police report and we will continue with our investigation. The conductor has also filed a counter complaint against the boy."
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