‘Human error’ led to Kurla BEST bus accident: Charge sheet | Mumbai news

MUMBAI: The driver of the BEST bus that rammed into several pedestrians and vehicles in Kurla on December 9, killing nine people and injuring 37 others, has been named as the accused in the charge sheet filed by the police, along with the top executives of two wet-lease contractors working with the public transport undertaking.

Officials said the evidence points to a “human error” on the part of driver Sanjay More due to a lack of training to operate an automatic electric bus. The police found no substance in More’s claims that there was a fault with the bus or its brakes, officials added.

The 1,047-page charge sheet names More and two top executives of BEST’s wet-lease contractors—Ramesh Katigandla, director of EveyTrans Private Limited, and Ram Anand Suryawanshi, CEO of Morya Trans India Limited—as the accused. According to officials, More was employed by Pune-based Morya Trans India, a subcontractor of EveyTrans, which supplied the bus on a wet-lease contract with BEST.

The charge sheet was filed after the police recorded the statements of family members of the nine people who were killed in the accident, the 37 injured people and several passengers who were in the BEST bus plying on route number 332, officials said. “The people who operated the CCTV cameras and others who recorded videos of the incident are also cited as witnesses,” said a senior police officer.

“We have attached various reports from the Regional Transport Office, BEST, and the doctor’s report on More’s mental condition. Everything is pointing to the lack of proper training [given] to More,” said the police officer.

“It was a human error. There was no fault with the bus or its brakes. He claimed that he was abruptly shifted from manual, geared, diesel vehicles to an automatic electric bus on December 1, and he had got only three brief training sessions,” added the police officer.

According to BEST’s internal SOP, bus drivers need to undergo six weeks of training before transitioning from manual to automatic electric buses. Before More started driving the 12-metre-long e-bus, the longest in the BEST fleet, on December 1, he had driven a six-metre-long diesel bus for four years.

More was arrested soon after the accident and charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder. The 50-year-old is currently in judicial custody. He had claimed in court that he lost control of the electric bus because of a malfunction in the vehicle. He could not stop the bus despite trying his best, he had told the court.

“We have filed the chargesheet under sections 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 110 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 118 (causing hurt or grievous hurt using dangerous weapons or harmful substances), 125 (negligent acts that cause harm to people or property), 324 (5) (mischief causing damage of at least ₹1,00,000), 319 (2) (cheating by personation) of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and section 184 of the Motor Vehicle Act for driving dangerously,” said the police officer.

The incident occurred around 9.30 pm on December 9 on SG Barve Marg in Kurla West. The bus driven by More ploughed through several pedestrians, approximately 22 vehicles and travelled around 200 metres before coming to a halt after colliding with a cement gate leading to Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Nagar.