The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : Bus burning incident: who is to be blamed? Law & order

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Tamil Nadu

Bus burning incident: who is to be blamed? Law & order

Authorities are in a knot over burning of impounded buses, reports L. Srikrishna

Who is responsible for burning two new buses parked inside the district court complex on Thursday night is a moot question making the rounds among the police and other officials. The clash between advocates and police personnel on the Madras High Court campus in Chennai spilled over to many parts in southern districts, including Madurai, on Friday. Police had a tough time in regulating traffic and maintaining law and order.

Though the police maintained that unidentified miscreants, under the cover of darkness, torched the two buses and fled the scene, the issue is: the buses burnt were in judicial custody and impounded on court directives. As the TNSTC authorities failed to remit the compensation to the bereaved family members of road accident victims, the properties were impounded. Under such circumstances, the issue of who is responsible for the loss or who is accountable to the TNSTC whose property had been lost has been raised.

In the event of the TNSTC settling the case, the property (the bus) had to be released. In this case, the two buses impounded had been destroyed in fire. The question of who is to replace the properties or compensate for the loss to the TNSTC has to be answered.

Inquiries with city police revealed that they had orally advised the authorities concerned to ensure safety of the movable properties as advocates were on boycott. “Under the prevailing circumstances, the buses may be removed immediately to a safe place,” we had advised, an officer said.

A senior TNSTC official said that they had not received any written intimation from the court concerned or the police in this connection.

Other buses removed

After the fire accident, all the other buses, eight in all, were removed from the court complex to the TNSTC depot, he said.

A trade union office-bearer of TNSTC said that though torching public transport corporation buses was nothing new for the law offenders, the damage caused within the court complex was a new phenomenon.

That the Sri Lankan Tamil issue appears to be taking a different dimension among different sections of people is another story. But, presently, the police are keeping their fingers crossed.

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