Six transport dept officials suspended for bus mishap

Arjun Sharma

Jammu, May 31

A day after an overloaded bus carrying passengers mostly from Uttar Pradesh overturned in Jammu and fell into a gorge resulting in death of 22 and injuries to 64, the J&K administration on Friday suspended six officials of the transport department for alleged negligence.

The incident occurred on Thursday afternoon when the bus with a seating capacity of 55 was carrying 86 passengers, including minors, met with an accident in Akhnoor of Jammu district. The bus was heading towards Shiv Khori shrine in Reasi district after which it was scheduled to visit Katra (Vaishno Devi shrine). A magisterial inquiry has already been ordered by Jammu Deputy Commissioner Sachin Kumar.

Transport department Secretary Niraj Kumar ordered the suspensions and a probe after a high-level meeting was chaired by Principal Secretary of the Home Department Chandraker Bharti.

“Pending enquiry into the conduct/dereliction of duties, officials posted in the office of Regional Transport Officer, Kathua (Lakhanpur) are placed under suspension with immediate effect and are attached in the office of Transport Commissioner, Jammu,” Kumar said in the order.

The suspended officials are Ranjeev Bhasin (motor vehicle inspector), Sumit Magotra (junior assistant) and multi-tasking staff (MTS) members Ashwani Kumar, Aman Kumar, Keshav Singh and Rakesh Kumar.

The order read that Paramvir Singh, Additional Secretary (Technical), Secretariat of Road Safety Council, J&K, has been appointed as the inquiry officer, who will submit the report along with recommendations within one week’s time. Meanwhile, the bodies of 22 victims will reach Mathura by train on Saturday. Postmortem was conducted on Friday.

According to sources, an inquiry initiated by the Deputy Commissioner will include version of eyewitnesses of the accidents. Injured passengers will also be questioned to know the exact cause of the accident. Technical analysis on the wreckage of the bus will also be conducted by an expert team of the Transport Department.

J&K Chief Secretary Atal Dulloo, who visited GMC-Jammu to meet the injured, told the media that the expenses relating to the treatment of all injured will be borne by the J&K administration. “It is suspected that the mishap occurred due to overloading of the bus, which will become clear after the inquiry. Two of the injured are under observation,” he said.