The Hindu : New Delhi News : No stopping Blueline murders in Capital

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Friday, Aug 10, 2007
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New Delhi

No stopping Blueline murders in Capital

Staff Reporter

The latest victim: a young motorcyclist from Allahabad

BLUE MURDER: The killer Blueline bus and (right) the young victim, Wasim.

NEW DELHI: Making a mockery of the Delhi Government’s much-hyped measures to discipline them, Blueline buses continue to wreak havoc on the Capital’s roads. The latest casualty is a young motorcyclist who was mowed down at Seemapuri in Delhi’s trans-Yamuna area on Thursday.

Angry residents of the area went on the rampage soon after the fatal mishap, smashing the windscreen and windowpanes of the killer Blueline and another bus belonging to the Delhi Transport Corporation, injuring its driver and some passengers.

Well over 70 people have been killed in accidents involving the Blueline buses in the Capital so far this year.

According to the police, Thursday’s accident took place around 10-15 a.m. near the Seemapuri DTC depot when the Blueline bus plying on route 33 -- from Bhajanpura to Noida -- hit the motorcycle and a rickshaw. The motorcyclist, later identified as 22-year-old Wasim, sustained serious injuries. He was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was declared dead on arrival. The bus driver meanwhile vanished from the spot abandoning the vehicle.

Later, neighbours of Wasim, a resident of Korhi Colony, descended on the road and stoned a DTC bus without even waiting for the dozen-odd passengers to get off. They smashed the windscreen and windowpanes of the vehicle. Some passengers and the driver, Sri Bhagwan, sustained injuries.

The police arrived on the scene soon after and dispersed the mob.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (North-East Delhi) Jaspal Singh said the police have acquired the video footage showing people hurling stones at the DTC bus. “It is a serious crime and everyone involved will be booked. We are in the process of identifying those who threw stones endangering the life of passengers.”

A case of destroying public property and causing injury has been registered at the Seemapuri police station. The police have got Sri Bhagwan medically examined and recorded his statement.

A rickshaw-puller, Salman, who escaped with injuries, has been made an eyewitness in the case of causing death due to rash and negligent driving. The police said the deceased motorcyclist was from Allahabad and had been living here alone. He was learning how to ride a motorcycle when the accident took place, the police added.

On Wednesday, a 16-year-old boy was seriously injured when he was hit by a Blueline bus while getting off another bus in Sarita Vihar. The victim has been admitted to Apollo Hospital.

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