New Delhi, (Samajweekly) It was a strenuous task for Delhi Police to track a cluster bus and arrest its driver who mowed down a man near Kashmiri Gate and fled from the spot on October 1. The deceased used to work as a clerk with a private company in Chandni Chowk.
The investigating team arrested the driver of the bus after scanning at least 200 CCTV footages and taking into account the statements of 350 commuters from the accident spot.
“Around 350 commuters were questioned; it became clear from the statements of a few commuters that the accident was committed by a cluster bus (Route No. 753). It was also disclosed that the bus driver fled from the spot with the bus by immediately taking a U-turn and sped up the wrong lane at around 11:15 pm on October 1,” said DCP North, Anto Alphonse.
Based on the information, details of around 30 cluster buses which moved from Kashmere Gate on the night of October 1 were collected. GPS data and locations of all the connected buses were obtained and minutely examined by Delhi Police.
During analysis, it was found that one bus running on Route No. 753 was the only one which moved in the wrong direction. The driver of the bus was identified as Pardeep (45), a resident of Issapur village in the national capital.
“The team immediately conducted raids at the residence of the accused and apprehended him. On sustained interrogation, the accused admitted to his involvement in the accident. The offending bus has already been seized by the police,” Alphonse said.
During interrogation, it was revealed that Pardeep has a long criminal record. He has been involved in 13 criminal cases, including for murder, attempt to murder, robbery, Arms Act, and fatal accidents registered at different police stations in Delhi and Haryana. These cases include three accident cases out of which two were fatal.
