Odisha: Driver held two days after bus mishap; was talking on phone while driving

Bhubaneswar/Angul: The driver of the bus, which fell off a bridge leading to death of 19 people in Odisha's Angul district, was arrested on Sunday, two days after having fled from the scene of the mishap.

Virendra Behera, was arrested from a place near a college at Athamallik where he has been hiding since September 9, a senior police official said.

A special police team caught Behera whose alleged negligence apparently led to the mishap, the official said.

The arrest was made a day after Odisha Transport Commissioner Chandra Sekhar Kumar, quoting preliminary findings, said the driver was talking on mobile phone while driving.

"The driver's was distracted as he was talking on mobile phone which led to the mishap. The bus was overloaded and it was running at high speed," Kumar said.

Quoting the Angul Regional Transport Officers' (RTO) report, he also said although the vehicle was 16-year-old, it was fit to run on road.

The mishap occurred on Friday near Deulijhari when the bus, going from Boudh to Athamallik, fell about 40 feet off a bridge in Odisha's Angul district.