3 walk into PRTC office with threat to blow up buses; 1 held

PATIALA: Three unidentified men entered the workshop of the state-run Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) in Sangrur around 11.30 pm on Sunday and threatened to blow up buses.

“The staff on emergency duty got hold of one of the three youths, who was later handed over to the police for further investigation,” said PRTC managing director Manjit Singh Narang.

However, police said it was not yet known if the arrested

NOT YET KNOWN IF THE ARRESTED PERSON HAS ANY ASSOCIATION WITH THE DERA SACHA SAUDA

person has any association with the Dera Sacha Sauda, whose followers have been angry ever since its chief was convicted of rape on Friday.

Meanwhile, the PRTC MD directed the general managers of its nine depots to put staff on night duty.

With the situation remaining tense due to the dera unrest, the PRTC again suspended its services in the Malwa belt on Monday.

Only Chandigarh, Kapurthala and Ludhiana depots remained operational.

Narang said the corporation has managed to run only onethird of its 1,045 buses, causing severe financial loss to PRTC as their services at Bathinda, Budhlada, Sangrur, Barnala and Patiala depot remained suspended.

“We will review the situation on Tuesday morning and take a final call on resumption,” Narang said.