One dead after drunk BEST bus passenger grabs steering wheel at Lalbaug

MUMBAI: A 27-year-old woman died shortly after midnight following a chaotic incident involving a BEST wet lease bus that collided with two cars and a scooter. The crash occurred when an allegedly intoxicated passenger engaged in an altercation with the driver and forcibly turned the steering wheel.
The bus, bearing registration number MH-01-CV-8815 and operating on route number 66, was involved in the multi-vehicle collision earlier in the evening. Nupur Subhash Maniyar, the deceased, sustained severe injuries to her chest and abdomen in the incident.
The electric bus, headed for Rani Laxmibai Chowk in Sion, met with the accident in Lalbaug, which was densely crowded on account of the upcoming Ganesh festival.
The incident occurred around 8.30 pm when the driver Kamlesh Prajapati, 40, had reached near Ganesh Talkies near the Lalbaug signal. The allegedly drunk man identified as Datta Murlidhar Shinde, 40, forcibly turned the steering wheel of the bus towards the left side, said a police officer. As a result, the bus dashed against two four-wheelers, one two-wheeler and two pedestrians. While two of the eight people injured in the crash have sustained fractures, six people have sustained minor injuries, said the officer.
“The drunk accused person has been taken into custody, and further legal action is being taken,” said senior inspector Sanjay Mohite of Kalachowki police station. “We have been recording the statements of witnesses and the injured bus driver.”
Due to the festive fervour, the roads were jam-packed with little space to move. “The accident happened when the passenger had an altercation with the driver, who then lost control of the bus,” said a BEST spokesperson. Later, the police, who were on patrol duty at the spot, took the passenger, driver and conductor to Kalachowki police station.