Tamil Nadu - Madurai   

TNSTC staff upset over suspension

MADURAI: Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) officials have suspended the driver and conductor of the bus, which was allegedly gutted recently near Arapalayam bus stand.

Following violence on law college campus in Chennai, unrest prevailed in many parts of the city and its peripheries. Several buses were stoned and one vehicle was set on fire. Though police had registered cases, the main accused behind the torching of bus were still at large, a senior police officer said.

According to TNSTC sources, the driver, Arumugam, a daily wage worker is now under ‘put off duty’ while conductor Sangakumar is placed under suspension on charges of dereliction of duty.

To clear extra rush, the Corporation operated ‘special’ trips to different destinations during that time. One such vehicle driven by Arumugam had just returned from Coimbatore to the city. The vehicle, which belonged to Kallupatti branch, was again directed to proceed to Coimbatore after some two hour halt for the crew, sources said.

Under such circumstances, when the driver and conductor were resting in the bus, some unidentified miscreants set the vehicle on fire under the cover of darkness. Fearing risk to their own lives, the crew jumped out of the bus and alerted the police about the incident.

Preliminary inquiries revealed that the bus was parked near the Vaigai bank, which has been the practice for several years. TNSTC employees at Arapalayam bus stand said that the bus crew parked their vehicles outside the bus stand and entered the premises just 15 to 20 minutes prior to the actual departure for want of space.

Some of the bus drivers and conductors said that for no fault of them their colleagues had been suspended. The police, who were supposed to maintain law and order, had not arrested any person in this connection till date. Similarly, the TNSTC officials too never gave any warning to its crew about the prevailing law and order situation, they alleged and hoped the Government would intervene in the issue.

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