The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has decided to place under suspension a driver who reportedly assaulted a person who was sitting on the floor of the agency’s Angamaly bus depot on Thursday night.
The person, said to be a passenger hailing from a neighbouring State, was reportedly not wearing a mask at the time of the incident. Citing this, the driver assaulted him using a stick. “He could well have informed this COVID norm violation to higher-ups in the KSRTC or to the police. We decided to suspend shunt duty driver V.V. Anto following a report submitted by KSRTC’s Thrissur Vigilance Inspector,” says a communication issued by the agency.
According to the KSRTC, the offence committed by the driver is an act of indiscipline and set a bad precedent. The agency’s CMD Biju Prabhakar ordered his suspension.
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The passenger reportedly suffered injuries to his arm and bled profusely following the assault and was taken to hospital. A video of the incident that was shot by a passenger was posted on many online platforms.
Angamaly police sources said no complaint had been received so far on the incident and hence a case had not been registered. A preliminary probe suggested that the KSRTC driver beat the worker who was reportedly not wearing a mask and was in an inebriated condition. The injured worker had not been traced so far. He left the hospital after getting first aid. Efforts were on to trace him, they said.