Elderly man crushed between 2 RTC buses

Driver reversed bus into passenger at Rathifile terminus

A 73-year-old man, Durga Prasad, was crushed to death as he was caught between two TSRTC buses at Rathifile in Secunderabad on Sunday afternoon.

“He was crossing the road from the front side of the bus after he got down from it. Another RTC bus that was ahead of this bus took a reverse, and the man was crushed between the two vehicles,” police said.

Durga Prasad had alighted from a bus at Rathifile at around 1.15 pm and was crossing the parked bus from the front, Gopalapuram inspector Sai Eshwar said.

“Another bus, bearing the number AP 11 Z 7412, driven by Md Saleem, 53, a permanent TSRTC driver, took a reverse. This bus came so close to Durga Prasad that he was crushed between the vehicles. He died on the spot,” the inspector said.

Prasad had got down from a 20P route number bus (AP28 Z 4873) that plied between Nampally and Secunderabad. The one that took the reverse and crushed him was on route 107 Y/R, scheduled for a trip from Secunderabad to Dilsukhnagar. The Rathifile is a busy TSRTC terminus. It had onsite RTC staff to guide passengers and ensure their safety. But, no one was around when this mishap took place, police said.

Durga Prasad’s wife passed away a few years ago and the couple did not have children. He was now living with his brother at Kavadiguda. “He got down at the terminus to change buses to head out in the city,” the inspector said.

Based on a complaint from the deceased’s brother, a case was booked under section 304-A of the IPC (death by negligence) and the errant driver was placed under arrest. The body was shifted to Gandhi Hospital for postmortem.

The driver was not drunk at the time of the mishap. His fitness certificate was not with him, the police said. According to data with the city police, the bus that crushed Durga Prasad has a pending unpaid traffic police challan of `1,000 since 2016. At that time, the vehicle was penalised for jumping a traffic signal.