School bus rams into tree in Jagraon, child dead, five injured, driver nabbed

Nikhil Bhardwaj

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, August 6

A rashly driven school bus rammed into a tree on the Raikot road in Jagraon on Tuesday morning.

Parents of students alleged that the driver was under the influence of some drugs or alcohol due to which the accident occurred. However, the police said a medical examination could reveal if the bus driver was intoxicated or not.

Meanwhile, the Jagraon city police registered a case against the bus driver, identified as Chamkor Singh, a resident of Bhampur Kalan, the principal of Sanmati Vimal Jain Senior Secondary School and the management under various sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). Later, he was arrested.

The deceased was identified as Gurman Singh (8) a resident of Akhara village. He was a student of Class I. His elder brother Sukhman Singh (11) was studying in Class V at the same school. Fortunately, he did not suffer major injuries in the accident.

Other injured students include Gurleen Kaur, Akashdeep Kaur, Arshdeep Kaur and Gursahib Singh.

Satnam Singh, father of the deceased, said his both children were picked by the school bus (bearing registration no PB13BC5991) at 7 am on Tuesday. He and his friends Balwinder and Darshan were going to their workplaces on their motorcycles when the school bus crossed them. The vehicle was being driven by Chamkaur Singh at a high speed. When the bus crossed the Dalip petrol pump in Jagraon, the driver lost control over the vehicle and it first rammed into a tree and reached the other side of the road and collided with another tree.

The deceased’s father said they went near the bus and found children crying for help.

“My son Gurman had suffered serious injuries and died on the spot while his brother Sukhman suffered minor injuries. Some other students also suffered injuries in the mishap. We, along with other residents took out the children stuck inside the bus. After calling ambulance, they were taken to a nearby hospital,” he said.

The bus driver, who did not suffer any injury, instead of helping the children, came out of the vehicle and fled the scene.

Meanwhile, after the incident, the parents had blocked the Raikot road and it was only after the police registered a case and assured action against the school management, people lifted the dharna after five hours.

School mgmt failed to act

The father of the deceased child and other parents, who held a protest by blocking the Raikot road demanding the arrest of the driver and action against the school management, alleged that “We as parents had many a times apprised the school management that bus driver Chamkaur remains under the influence of drugs and liquor and had also urged the management to replace him but nobody listened to them and finally the tragedy occurred.

“The school bus was also not having any conductor, which is must as per the Safe School Vahan policy, but the management did not bother and put lives of the students at risk. Besides the driver, the school management is equally responsible for the mishap and it deserves no mercy,” they said.

SP (detective), Ludhiana rural, Sandeep Wadhera, said The school bus was having a registration number of Sangrur. The vehicle was also in a poor condition. The conductor was also not available in the bus and the RTA can put much light about such violations while the police have done their job by registering a case and nabbing the bus driver. The names of members of the school management would be added to the FIR in the further investigation.

Violating vehicles can be taken off road: SDM

Jagraon SDM Gurbir Singh said now, they would check school buses for two weeks and even traffic in-charges were also told to act against offenders. Schools had earlier already given in writing that they were complying with the Safe School Vahan policy. If any vehicle found violating the norms during the checking, it could be taken off road and the school might also face action.