Mumbai: A truck driver was killed after a BEST bus allegedly rammed into his vehicle at Aarey Colony early on Thursday. The bus driver and conductor suffered injuries in the incident.Aarey Colony police have registered an FIR against the bus driver, Mohammad Rafiq Shaikh (48), under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. They are yet to arrest him as he is recuperating in hospital.
Around 6.20am, the Gujarat-registered truck, which was heading towards Powai, reached about 200m to the east of the Aarey Colony unit no. 16 bus stop, when the wet-lease bus, on route no A-478 going from Vikhroli depot towards Borivli East railway station, came up from front on Dinkarrao Desai Marg and rammed into it, said police. The truck driver, identified as Gujarat resident Chehraji Thakur (37), suffered grievous injuries and was declared dead in hospital.Police registered the FIR based on the statement of the truck cleaner, Suresh Kumar Rawat, also a Gujarat resident.BEST officials, however, blamed the unseasonal morning rain for the mishap. They claimed the “truck lost control due to rain-soaked road and slipped, causing the vehicle to veer towards the bus and collide into the front right portion of the bus driver’s cabin”.A BEST statement said: “Shaikh suffered a head injury as the front windshield broke. He also suffered injuries to his right leg and knee. The conductor, Ravindra Shembadkar (56) suffered minor injuries on his left hand and left leg.” The duo was taken to Balasaheb Thackeray Trauma Care Hospital in Jogeshwari. “Shaikh underwent a CT scan and is reported to be fully conscious and stable,” the statement said.
