Mishap involving Badal bus ends in compromise yet again

Deepkamal Kaur

Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, August 26

A day after a bus of Dabwali Transport, a company owned by Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal, hit two cars at Rail Majra village near Balachaur in Nawanshahr, the bus driver managed to go scot free as no complaint was lodged against him. The impounded bus has also been handed back to the company.

The bus had hit the car of Nirmaljit Kaur, wife of former Jails Minister and Kartarpur SAD MLA Sarwan Singh Phillaur, and another car of an ADC. Neither of the two got a complaint lodged.

Even though the policemen have been maintaining that it was the car of an ADC from Ropar, no ADC has come on record saying that it was his car (PB07 AD 3363).

According to eyewitnesses, the two cars were heading towards Chandigarh. The ADC’s car applied the brakes and so did the driver of minister’s wife but the speeding bus banged into Nirmaljit’s car. But the family has chosen to keep silent.

“My mother is fine. We got her tests done today at Chandigarh and the reports are okay. Though the car got damaged, we are not interested in lodging a case,” said the minister’s son Damanvir Phillaur.

Asked if he would have got the case lodged had it been some other bus, he replied diplomatically, “Maybe not even then”.

Two youths on a bike had suffered minor injuries, but they too have not filed any complaint.

Surinder Pal, Congress block samiti president who along with another party leader Rajwinder Singh, had held a protest yesterday at the spot, said, “The two youths are college students who were returning from a tuition centre in Ropar. Policemen put immense pressure and got a written compromise signed by them this morning.”

SHO Kathgarh police station Daljit Singh said that only a daily diary register (DDR) report has been written with the details of the bus and other vehicles in the accident. “Since there was no complaint, we could not register any FIR. We had impounded the bus yesterday as there had been protests by Congress leaders. As there was no complaint till this evening, we handed over the bus to the company,” he said.

SSP Nawanshahr Snehdeep Sharma too gave the same statement. He denied having used any pressure on the youth.