Mumbai: A 40-year-old Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) bus driver caught for jumping a traffic signal near Thane on Tuesday night was found to be drunk and has been booked for drunken driving and endangering human lives.
The incident was reported at around 9 p.m. when the bus carrying 16 passengers from Nallasopara to Dapoli in Ratnagiri district jumped the Brahmand signal. Police constable Juber Tamboli and police nayak Damodar Jadhav stopped the bus in the middle of the road and asked the driver to step out.
“When we saw the bus had jumped the signal, we asked the driver to stop. While we were talking to him, we understood that he was drunk. Fortunately we caught him before any untoward incident could occur. The bus had another 200-km journey to complete,” said Mr. Jadhav.
The driver identified as Bhikanrao Patil was taken to Kasarwadawali traffic police chowky where he had to undergo a breathalyser test. “We found the alcohol level way beyond the permissible limit, and we sent him to Kapurbawadi police station,” said S.V Kardile, traffic police inspector, Kasarwadawali.
Mr. Patil, who recorded 136.1 mg for every 100 ml of blood (with 30 mg/100 ml being the limit), has not been arrested, but booked under Section 185 of the Motor Vehicles Act. The driver deposited ₹5,000 with the Kapurwadi police and will be produced in court where the final amount of his fine will be decided.
Police officials said this was the third case of drunken driving involving a MSRTC bus driver. Two cases were booked by the Kapurwadi police in March. In one of the cases on March 22, the ST driver was caught after a traffic constable chased the speeding bus for kilometres.
