Bengaluru: Girl held hostage in bus, police take no action

BENGALURU: A city girl student was allegedly held hostage in a BMTC bus, by its conductor and driver, right in the middle of a street for over 45 minutes on near Yelahanka police station Wednesday night. Moreover, when she cried for help the policemen, who were reportedly present at the spot, remained mute spectators and did not help her.

Smriti (name changed), a student of Shrishti College of Arts took to social networking sites Facebook and Twitter to narrate her horror. Her ordeal didn’t end here. When she approached the police to register an FIR, the police inspector attached to Yelahanka police station N.R. Nagraj allegedly discouraged her to pursue the complaint and even told her that the case might drag on for 5 to 6 years, she stated in her post.

Soon, after her post went viral, senior police officers swung into action and took a suo-motu case in this connection and arrested the accused BMTC bus conductor.

DCP (North-East) P.S. Harsha told Deccan Chronicle, “The accused conductor, Uma Shankar, was arrested on Thursday morning. The police treated the Facebook post as an official complaint and a case was registered in Yelahanka Old Town police station. The conductor has been booked under Section 341 (punishment for wrongful restraint) and 342 (punishment for wrongful confinement) of IPC. They had also contacted the girl student for filing FIR but she chose not to go ahead with the complaint. The issue is being probed from all angles and a report will be submitted by the ACP.”

It all began around 7.30 pm on Wednesday when Smriti along with her male friend was travelling in a BMTC bus. According to her complaint, while they were heading home, the conductor approached them and started abusing her friend for standing by her side in the ‘ladies-only’ section.

Soon, a brawl broke out between the conductor and her friend following which her friend fled the spot after pushing the conductor to the ground. Little did Smriti know that she will end up being hostage for no fault of hers.

“I was detained alone in a local BMTC bus (402B, KA8022) by the conductor and driver. Some police inspectors were just outside the NES, Yelahanka police station. I was coming home from college, when the conductor picked up a fight with my north-eastern friend and began to abuse him for standing by my side in the middle section (ladies section) of the bus. When my friend went and sat on the stairs, the bus conductor began hurling abuses at him and even pushed him. Enraged over this, my friend did the same following which the conductor fell onto the floor.”

It further read, “Seeing the conductor falling on the floor, soon a mob gathered thinking that my friend is an attacker and surrounded him. Sensing trouble, he fled. Meanwhile, the conductor, who got offended decided to stop by the NES police station (one of the stops on the bus route) and demanded that I provide details about my friend. Before I could do anything, the conductor locked me inside the bus. When I ordered him to release me, he refused, and the policemen who were present there said they wouldn’t open the bus till my friend arrives at the police station.”

After a vain bid to get released for over 45 minutes, Smriti called her friends, who reached the spot after an hour and subsequently led to her release.  However, Smriti has decided not to file the complaint as her family is afraid of the repercussions. On Thursday Smriti took to social media networking site Facebook and thanked the police officials for their intervention and said, “I received a call from the Deputy Commissioner of police Yelahanka to ask if I want to file an FIR. But, due to concerns from family members, I will not be filing this FIR because they feel that the repercussions. However I will be consulting the senior police officials about what actions should be taken.”

Conductor was enforcing rule: BMTC
An allegation was made by a girl student against the crew of BMTC bus (KA 8022) Route No 402 B. She claimed she was travelling by the bus on March 23, along with her male batchmate. The conductor had objected to him sitting in a seat reserved for women passengers. The BMTC has reserved seats exclusively for women passengers and conductors are responsible for enforcing it.

However, the conductor was manhandled by the girl’s batchmate. The bus was diverted to Yelahanka Police Station by the BMTC crew to lodge a complaint.  She has also complained that she was detained in the bus, when it was taken to Yelahanka police station. In this connection the conductor and the girl passenger have lodged complaints at Yelahanka Police Station and
investigation is on.