Kurnool (Andhra Pradesh), Oct 26 (IANS) The rider of the bike which became the cause of Friday’s bus fire tragedy near here killing 19 passengers was drunk, but the bus driver was not found under the influence of alcohol, a senior police official said on Sunday.

While the reckless manner in which the rider was seen riding the bike in the CCTV footage obtained by police on Saturday had clearly indicated that he was drunk, the forensic report confirmed on Sunday that he was under the influence of alcohol.

The report from the Regional Forensic Science Laboratory (RFSL), Kurnool confirmed that B. Shiva Shankar (22), who died after the bike skidded off the road and hit the divider, was drunk. Kurnool District Superintendent of Police B. Vikrant Patil told media persons on Sunday that the viscera samples showed the bike rider was drunk.

Shiva Shankar’s friend Erriswamy, who was riding pillion, admitted before police on Sunday that they had consumed liquor.

Police confirmed that the bike rider Shiva Shankar died after hitting the divider near Chinnatekur while Erriswamy, who escaped with minor injuries, fled the scene in panic after watching the bus in flames.

Erriswamy told the police that he pulled Shiva Shankar’s body to the roadside and was about to move the bike lying in the middle of the road when the speeding bus hit the bike and dragged it for some distance.

The private bus, which was carrying 46 people including two drivers and was on its way to Bengaluru from Hyderabad, went up in flames.

While 19 passengers, including two children, were charred to death, 27 passengers, including both the drivers, escaped by breaking glass windows.

Police investigation revealed that the bus dragged the bike for about 200 meters, and the friction and fuel leakage from the bike ignited the massive fire which quickly engulfed the entire double-decker bus.

After establishing the presence of a second person and identifying him through CCTV footage recorded at a petrol pump a few minutes before the accident, the police picked up Erriswamy from his native village Tuggali on Saturday.

Meanwhile, the police registered a First Information Report (FIR) on a complaint by one of the passengers.

Bus driver Miriyala Lakshmaiah and the owner of V. Kaveri Travels, Vemuri Vinod Kumar, have been booked under BNS Sections 125(a) and 106(1) for causing death by rash or negligent act.

The SP said a separate FIR has been registered in connection with the bike crash.

On a complaint by Erriswamy, a case has been registered against deceased Shiva Shankar at Ulindakonda police station. The case has been booked for negligence and drunk driving.

The bus driver apparently failed to notice the Pulsar bike lying on the road, which resulted in the horrific accident. Police investigations also show that a couple of buses which passed through the spot earlier had dodged the bike.

The police were also investigating if the bus driver got his licence based on a fake academic certificate.

Lakshmaiah, who studied only up to Class 5, allegedly managed to get a heavy-vehicle driving licence with a fake Class 10 certificate. Under licensing rules, anyone driving a transport vehicle needs to have studied at least up to Class 8.

Transport authorities were also looking into the alleged violation of rules by the bus owner in altering the bus to a sleeper coach. Though the bus was operating between Telangana and Karnataka through Andhra Pradesh, it was registered in Daman and Diu in 2018 and re-registered in Odisha this year.

–IANS

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