Report: Driver of crashed J&K bus had fake licence

Jammu, July 11

Two weeks after 11 students died after a bus broke through the guardrail and rolled down a 1,000-foot-deep gorge on the Mughal road in Shopian district, it has come to light that its driver didn’t have a valid licence.

Jammu Regional Transport Officer Dhanenter Singh on Tuesday submitted a report to the Transport Commissioner after investigating the June 27 accident at Peer Ki Gali.

Sources said Pathan Jameel was driving the bus on a fake licence. “The police had sent a copy of Jameel’s driving licence to the Poonch RTO for verification, who found it photoshopped,” a source said. The report said Jameel, 21, never applied for one. “The vehicle’s premit too expired in 2017 and was passed illegally through the office of the Jammu RTO in March 2019,” it said. — TNS