Six students injured in bus crew attack at Nettoor in Kochi

Kochi: Six students were injured when the crew of a private bus attacked them at Nettoor here on Wednesday evening. 

The bus crew turned violent when the students of an Industrial Training Institute at Nettoor questioned the crew for not permitting them to travel in the bus. Four of the students were rushed to Ernakulam General Hospital while two others were taken to a private hospital at Nettoor. Their injuries were not serious.

The Panangad police arrested bus checker Abu Tahir, 22, of Poochakkal, conductor Abhijith, 22, and driver Ajeesh, 23, both natives of Panavalli, and seized the  bus, ‘Mangalya,’ running in the Kaloor-Poochakkal route.

According to cops, the incident happened at 5 pm when the students tried to board the bus from INTUC junction at Nettoor while returning home.

“There was a dispute between the students and the bus crew for the past several days over giving  travel concession. The bus didn’t stop at the INTUC junction on Tuesday. Therefore, the students stopped it on Wednesday and tried to board it,” the police said.

Checker Abu Tahir, who is facing charges in an assault case, suddenly jumped out of the bus and attacked the students with a scissor-like iron tool, injuring six of them.   Three of them,  Jishnu Jyotish, Gautam and Abhijith,  suffered wounds on their chest and veins on their hands.

“There are a few buses to Poochakkal. The bus didn’t stop at the junction in the last few days and hence we intercepted it. When we were about to board it, the checker attacked us with a sharp-edged iron rod. Six of us were injured in the melee,” said Abhijith, a resident of Vaduthala.

Mr Rejin M. Thomas, sub-inspector, said, “As per the statement of students and local residents, the bus crew attacked the students with an iron rod when they tried to board the bus. The students only stopped the bus and didn’t attack the crew as per primary probe. Nothing conclusive can be said now as the probe is progressing,” he said.

The Panangad police registered a case against the trio under IPC Section 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide).

Traffic along the highway was affected for nearly 20 minutes following the incident.