Chennai: In a freak incident, a State Express Transport Corporation (SETC) bus hit a devotee on Chennai-Tiruchy NH while he was returning from Sabarimala temple early on Wednesday morning near Chengalpattu.
According to Chengalpattu taluk police, a travel van with 12 devotees onboard, all from T. Nagar, was proceeding to Chennai from Tiruchy on NH-45, after visiting Sabarimala temple. A private omni bus was also taking the same route to reach Chennai.
When the omni bus tried to overtake the travel van near Irungundrapalli near Chengalpattu, the bus scraped the side of the van, after which the driver of the van intercepted the bus and entered into an altercation with omni bus driver Khaja Mohideen (32).
Even as bus driver offered Rs 3,000 to the van driver for repair works, the van driver did not agree and demanded more. What started as an argument between the two turned out to be a tragedy for Gurusamy (45), a devotee, who got down from the van and tried to pacify the two drivers. A speeding SETC bus on the same stretch hit Gurusamy and Khaja Mohideen, injuring them severely. Upon receiving information, police and ambulance reached the spot and took the two injured to Chengalpattu hospital. However, Gurusamy was declared brought dead, while Mohideen is undergoing intensive treatment.The incident led to a traffic snarl and normalcy returned after one and half hours. It is also learnt that police personnel from Chengalpattu taluk police and Padalam tried to evade the case, stating that the accident site was not under their jurisdiction when people called them up. Later, it was confirmed that it was under the jurisdiction of Chengalpattu taluk police which registered a case. Further enquiry is on. Enquiry revealed that since there was fog in the early morning, the driver did not notice the vehicles.
