New Delhi: Alarm bells are once again ringing across Delhi-NCR following a sexual assault inside an interstate private sleeper bus. The incident mirrors a crime from barely three months ago in May, when a 30-year-old woman was gang-raped inside a similar bus in northwest Delhi’s Rani Bagh. The recurrence of such heinous crimes inside commercial passenger vehicles highlights a grim reality: unregulated private transport fleets are operating with near impunity across state lines.For years, private buses were viewed largely as a traffic management challenge, with commuters and authorities routinely complaining about these heavy vehicles parking unlawfully, speeding and halting unpredictably to pick up or drop off passengers in the middle of arterial roads or even on flyovers. They were often involved in fatal accidents and hit-and-runs, and frequently operated despite pending traffic challans.However, in recent crimes, they have turned into public safety threats, with drivers and conductors being accused of getting involved in sexual offences and looting passengers. In Jan, the driver and the conductor of a private bus were arrested in east Delhi for allegedly luring passengers with cheap fares before assaulting and robbing them on Delhi-Meerut Expressway. Passengers were picked up from near Anand Vihar railway station and the interstate bus terminal, and later abandoned at an isolated location.In 2012, after the Nirbhaya gang rape, the authorities tightened the noose around such operators and their drivers/conductors. But the enforcement was short-lived and things seem to have slipped over the years.Serving and retired police officers pointed out that preventing these recurring crimes would require a comprehensive plan. Bus operators must strictly enforce safety tech requirements, including operational GPS tracking, functional CCTV cameras and panic buttons linked to police control rooms, they said.The authorities must ensure unhindered cabin visibility by banning curtains around sleeper berths, with heavy financial penalties imposed on transport companies that fail to adhere to these mandates or deploy unverified staff. A centralised database that cross-references criminal antecedents before granting entry permits into Delhi is also critical, officers said.Technology must be backed by a renewed focus on traditional policing methods and a revamping of ground-level policing to establish strong, visible deterrence, retired cops asserted. Strategic pickets should be set up at key border points and entry gates, and these outposts should be tasked with strict verification of bus crews and routing, they added.“Police must also conduct surprise on-board and luggage inspections at major interchanges across the city. Agencies must systematically eliminate illegal pick-up and drop-off spots. The rampant practice of halting on flyovers and main arterial roads must be met with a zero-tolerance policy,” a retired DCP said. All private operators should pick up and drop passengers only within the safe confines of monitored, well-lit interstate terminals.Besides mandatory background checks of all out-of-state drivers and conductors, they should also undergo awareness campaigns, said officers.
