Pune: A day after a disturbed man (24) hailing from Pauri Garhwal in Uttarakhand dangerously drove a PMPML bus from Dengle Bridge to Goodluck Chowk before being overpowered, the Shivajinagar police said that they will act against the bus driver, who left the keys unattended in the ignition socket, only if PMPML lodges a complaint.The police have registered a case of theft and rash and negligent driving against the Pauri Garhwal man who drove away the bus, but haven’t taken a call on registering a case against the driver or contractor who provided the bus on hire to the transport utility.Senior inspector Girish Dighavkar of the Shivajinagar police said, “As of now, we have not initiated any legal action against the PMPML bus driver, who left the keys in the ignition of the bus at Dengle Bridge. We will take legal action against him if PMPML lodges a complaint or submits a statement requesting action against him. There is negligence on his part, but we need a complainant. We will record the statement of the PMPML driver during the course of the investigation.“Dighavkar added, “The driver had left the ignition key unattended, which enabled the disturbed man to steal the bus easily.”PMPML CMD Mahesh Awhad told TOI that the driver has been suspended with immediate effect. “The driver will no longer be working with PMPML. Furthermore, the private contractor operating the bus will face penal action in the form of a hefty fine. Such an incident is serious and should not have happened,” he said.Awhad added that a meeting had been called on Monday with all private contractors. “We will discuss safe operating practices and issue directions to avoid such lapses under any circumstances. Since similar incidents have happened before, we will review what action was taken in those cases,” he said, adding, “The police have also lodged a complaint. But that is not under our ambit.”
