Private bus operator assaults GMCBL driver and conductor

Gurugram: A private bus operator allegedly intercepted a Gurugram Metropolitan City Bus Limited (GMCBL) bus on Thursday and assaulted the driver and conductor.

The incident took place near the Airia Mall at Sector-68 in Gurugram. The assailant attacked the driver and conductor with a bat, after barging inside the vehicle, officials said on Friday.

GMCBL officials also alleged that the private bus driver later reversed his vehicle and rammed into the GMCBL bus, breaking its rear-view mirror and front left door. This left the 30 odd passengers on board in a state of shock.

The incident was fuelled by a fierce need to carry maximum passengers, and even take over the volume of commuters from GMCBL buses.

At around 10.15am on Thursday, the GMCBL bus was travelling from Gurugram bus stand to Sohna bus stand via route number 218, which generates maximum revenue.

Footage from a CCTV camera installed inside tbus has also surfaced on social media, where the suspects can allegedly be seen barging inside the vehicle and assaulting the driver and conductor.

According to officials, this is the second such incident to occur on route number 218. A GMCBL driver and conductor were assaulted by a private operator near Rajiv chowk earlier this week.

“We face frequent incidents of operators assaulting our drivers and conductors on this route. Things are the same on the Ballabgarh, Faridabad route as passenger volume is high on these two routes. Private bus operators are always hustling to take in the maximum number of passengers,” a GMCBL official said.

According to GMCBL, 18 buses used to run on route 218 before COVID. The number has been brought down to 11 now.

Sandeep Kumar, the driver who was assaulted on Thursday, alleged that private bus operators and drivers frequently threaten them to stay a kilometre behind their buses, and not to overtake or move ahead at any point. According to Kumar, the operators use this tactic to increase their passenger volume and earn more, resulting in losses for GMCBL.

“We left the Gurugram bus stand at 9.37am, while the private bus left at 9.30pm. Both reached near Airia mall and picked up passengers. The private bus then stopped at a turn after Badshahpur and started picking up passengers. Our next stop was around half a kilometre ahead. Hence, I moved ahead, which irked the private bus driver. He and his helper assaulted me and conductor Hawa Singh, who had tried to resist,” Kumar said

GMCBL depot manager Arun Sharma said such incidents are a threat to

passengers and public safety as well.

After Thursday’s incident, GMCBL senior officials said that they are now planning to meet Gurugram commissioner of police Kala Ramachandran to end thus nuisance.

Officials said that a complaint was submitted at Badshahpur police station after the incident but had to be taken back after several phone calls were made to the contractual employees.

“This further terrified the contractual employees at the depot in Sector-52,” a senior official said.

Inspector Sandeep Kumar, station house officer (SHO), Badshahpur police station, said that police had contacted the GMCBL employees even on Friday to come and submit a complaint for registering an FIR. “However, no one has turned up yet,” he said.

Upasana, deputy commissioner of police (south), said that a contractual employee submitted a written petition that he doesn’t want to get an FIR registered this time.

“He wrote that next time if such an assault is repeated, they will approach the police for an FIR. Due to such a scenario, we made a special diary entry of the entire incident,” she said.

Upasana said that she was inclined to get an FIR registered in the case as government property was involved. “Let me talk to the SHO for contacting GMCBL officials again for getting an FIR registered,” she said.