Jun 23, 2025 07:28 AM IST
The bus was allegedly trying to overtake a vehicle in front of it when it hit head-on the auto rickshaw coming from the opposite direction, said police
MUMBAI: A 55-year-old shared auto-rickshaw passenger died, and three others, including the driver, suffered grievous injuries after an allegedly speeding State Transport (ST) bus crashed into it in Virar West on Sunday. The police booked the absconding bus driver for causing death by negligence.
The accident occurred at 8.30am near the Arnala city bus stop. The ST had left the Arnala bus depot to go to Shirdi while the shared auto was transporting four passengers from the Virar railway station to the Arnala village. According to the police, the bus was attempting to overtake the vehicle in front of it and collided head-on with the auto. Passersby alerted the police at 8.35am, who rushed the four passengers and the auto driver, identified as Poonam Varthe, to the Sanjeevani Hospital in Virar West.
One of them, Kalpana Kolge, a resident of Arnala village, was declared dead by the doctors. Varthe suffered injuries to her head and torso. The two other passengers, who are yet to be identified, also suffered injuries. All three are undergoing treatment at the hospital.
Eyewitnesses told the police that the bus driver was speeding before it crashed into the rickshaw. “Fearing public anger, the bus driver immediately fled. We are tracing the accused,” said a police officer.
The Arnala Sagri police registered a case against the accused driver under section 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 281 (rash driving), and 106 (causing death by negligence) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, and relevant sections of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.
