2 persons arrested for vandalising HRTC bus

Police arrested two youths involved in the vandalism of an HRTC bus (Chandigarh-Hamirpur bound) on March 18 evening. Those arrested have been identified as Rupnagar resident Hardeep Singh and Fazilka resident Gagandeep Singh. Both were residing in Mohali for the past sometime and were arrested from Mohali, cops said. Both are around 30 years of age. One of them is a taxi driver and the other is an auto driver. The car used in the incident has also been recovered.

Meanwhile, the Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) has resumed 10 routes to Hoshiarpur that had been suspended following the vandalization of its buses in Punjab.

Kharar DSP Karan Singh Sandhu said, “The duo has been arrested under the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act, 126 (2), 324 (4), 351 (2) and 3 (5) of the BNS at the City Kharar police station. They said they had some incidents in the past and after seeing videos of recent incidents they got agitated and damaged the vehicles.”

Following such incidents of vandalising of vehicles, tension had mounted among the two states with Chief Ministers of two states toning down the issue. Ten routes of the HRTC to the Hoshiarpur were put on hold for the time being.

Two masked car-borne persons vandalised a Chandigarh-Hamirpur bus of the Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) near Shivjot Enclave in Kharar on March 18 evening, leaving the passengers in a state of shock.

The incident was seen as a retaliatory move in protest against the HP Police action against radical elements following display of flags and posters near Manikaran in Kullu.

The car-borne youths stopped the public transport vehicle and vandalised it in full public view before fleeing the spot. One of the youths attacked the front windshields of the bus while the other remained seated in the car, whose registration plate was masked with tape.

The passengers were shifted to another bus to continue their journey. The police later took the vehicle in their possession and began an investigation.