PANAJI: A bid to hijack a 52-seater bus of the Kadamba Transport Corporation by a 28-year-old Uttar Pradesh native from the Panaji bus-stand was foiled as he could not negotiate through the heavy traffic around 10 am on Friday.
Suresh Kumar Prasad Nishad, who made the bid to take off with the bus realised his folly when he encountered the heavy traffic outside and abandoned his attempt. He then tried to alight from the bus and escape but was overpowered by the public and later arrested by Panaji police.The bus (GA-O3-X-0586) plying on the Margao-to-Miraj route was on Friday morning parked at platform number 4 of the Panaji bus stand when the driver and its conductor who were outside suddenly realised that the bus was rolling. However before they could react, Kumar who is currently staying in Margao and is a driver of a private vehicle, took off with the bus.
The KTC bus driver and conductor who were outside the bus raised an alarm and began chasing it. Police personnel stationed at the gate of the bus-stand tried to stop the bus. However, Kumar on encountering heavy traffic outside the bus-stand, himself switched off the bus engine and tried to run away.
He was however caught and was formally arrested after a complaint was filed by the KTC Assistant Traffic superintendent PB Subhedar. Police sources said Kumar appears to be mentally disturbed.
