Four farm workers killed as MSRTC bus rams motorcycle

Pune: Four farm workers from Dingore village in Junnar were killed while returning home after a Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation bus hit their motorcycle at Bankar Phata around 8pm on Sunday.

The police said the speeding Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) bus hit the motorcycle while attempting to overtake another vehicle near the village, about 97km from the city. The bus driver, a resident of Akola district, was arrested under sections 106 (causing death by negligence) and 281 (rash driving) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

The police identified the deceased farm workers as Shivram Paradhi (26), Ashish Bhale (24), Khandu Bhale (25) and Deepak Bhale (28), all residents of Dingore village. Assistant inspector Dnyaneshwar Bajgire of the Otur police said the victims had gone to work near Bankar Phata on Sunday morning.

“There is no mode of transport for commuters in the area at night. So, the victims were returning home on Ashish’ motorcycle,” Bajgire said.

The officer said an MSRTC bus plying between Vitthalwadi in Thane district and Pathardi in Ahilyanagar district hit their motorcycle around 8pm, when they were a few kilometres away from their homes. “The bus was running at high speed. Its drivers took the vehicle on the wrong side in an attempt to overtake another vehicle,” Bajgire said.

He said all four victims suffered severe injuries in the accident. Residents of the area and police personnel took them to a nearby hospital, where doctors declared them dead. “No one in the bus suffered injuries,” Bajgire said.