Travel firm’s sticker leads police to bus driver wanted in year-old accident case

Pune: The Chatushrungi police claimed that they last week traced the driver of a private bus involved in a hit-and-run almost a year after the death of a hospital employee (24), but let him off with a notice relying on his claim that the victim’s bike fell in front of his vehicle when he was overtaking it from the left side.A sticker on the windshield of the bus helped the police identify the vehicle and its driver. “We have verified the driver’s claim,” inspector Yuvraj Nandre of the Chatushrungi police said. One of the passengers seated next to the bus driver at the time of the accident supported the latter’s version, he said.The accident occurred on Aundh Road on the night of August 23, 2023. An IT company had hired the bus of a Hadapsar-based travel firm on contract to transport its staffers. The bus driver did not stop the vehicle after the accident, nor did he or the passenger report the accident to the police till the latter managed to trace the driver. A case of rash and negligent driving and causing death due to negligence was registered against an unidentified driver at the time of the accident.Lawyer Sushrut Kamble, who assisted the victim’s mother in her pursuit to secure justice for her son, told TOI, “The case remained unsolved because of jurisdiction related issues and regular transfer of investigation officers. The case was almost cracked by the last investigation officer, but something happened and he was suspended. It remained unsolved for the next few months, till we decided to follow-up with senior police officers.”The victim’s mother regularly visited the Chatushrungi police station. She told TOI, “My husband died 15 years ago due to a heart attack and my son died in a road accident. I stay with my two brothers in Gokhalenagar. After joining the hospital, my son had bought a new motorcycle to commute to his workplace and I had started looking for girls to marry him off. It was a hit-and-run case and I wanted to know how the accident occurred and who had killed my son. I kept pursuing the case with the help of my lawyer.”She said, “I spoke to the bus driver after he was traced and brought to the police station and learnt that he had two sons. I have decided not to pursue the case further as he needs to look after his children.”Inspector Nandre, and sub-inspectors Pranil Chougule and Babasaheb Zarekar started investigating the case afresh about a month ago. “Our team examined many CCTV footage of Aundh and Ganeshkhind roads. We focused on the CCTV footage from a spot close to the accident site and spotted the bus. Its registration number was not visible, but our police spotted a sticker of the travel firm on the front windshield of the bus,” Nadre said.The police then started contacting private bus operators in Katraj, Nigdi, Hadapsar and other parts of the city to identify the firm to which the bus belonged. The firm in Hadapsar and the bus driver were finally traced.