Pune woke up to a bizarre display of manic violence on Wednesday when a deranged state transport bus driver hijacked a bus from Swargate depot and went on a rampage on the crowded streets of the city, ramming into as many as 40 vehicles in its way and leaving eight persons dead and 29 others injured.
The driver Santosh Maruti Mane (39), who has been placed under arrest, hijacked the bus and entered the wrong lane of the Shankar Sheth Road, dashing into vehicles coming in his path. The police control room was notified at 8.05 am, after which the police gave him chase. Two policemen on a motorcycle followed him, exhorting him to stop, but to no avail.
Mane drove around 15 km for nearly 45 minutes at high speed, not stopping even when the pursuing police fired 10 rounds into the air.
At around 8.45 pm, the bus slowed down after it crashed into two cars, ahead of the Neelayam overbridge. This allowed the policemen to overtake the bus. Third-year BCCA student Sharif Ibrahim Kutty, who was present on the overbridge, then jumped aboard the bus and pulled the maniac driver away.
Police sources said no effort had been spared in trying to stop Mane.
“We installed barricades to stop the bus, but he just crashed into them and rushed away. We are ascertaining what made him go berserk,” Pune police commissioner Meeran Borwankar said.
As the bus left a trail of damaged vehicles, the injured and dead in its wake, citizens who had watched what happened helped take the victims to hospital.
Meanwhile, MSRTC officials stated Mane had been involved in four minor accidents in his 13-year service. “Nobody died or was hurt in those accidents. His work certainly did not drive him over the edge,” said a senior official requesting anonymity.