At least seven passengers were injured after a government bus rammed into a private bus that had braked suddenly in front of it near Vidyasagar Island opposite Bidhannagar Government College in northeast Kolkata on Monday evening.
Several passengers of the private bus beat up the driver of the government bus and smashed its windshield and headlights.
A police team reached the spot and took the injured to hospital.
According to an officer of the Bidhannagar Commissionerate’s traffic wing, the private bus of route KB 16 that plies from Sukhobrishti Housing Complex to Bangur went past the government bus of the Karunamoyee-Burdwan route and braked in front of it after the driver spotted some passengers waiting on the road.
“The driver of the government bus had applied the brakes but could not stop in time. He rammed into the private bus leaving at least seven passengers with injuries. Most escaped with cuts and bruises,” said the officer.
Most of the injured passengers were taken to the Bidhannagar Sub-Divisional Hospital, from where they were discharged after treatment.
One middle-aged woman was admitted with a broken leg.
A police officer said that it was apparent that the private bus had been speeding and had swerved in front of the government bus before braking hard in front of it.
“The accident could have been averted if the driver of the private bus did not brake suddenly in front of the other bus,” said the officer.
The buses were seized and a case of rash and negligent driving under IPC Section 279 was registered against the drivers.
Statistics show that buses — government and private — are one of the major contributors to accidents in the city. The tendency to pick up and drop passengers in the middle of the road, reckless driving and racing with buses of the same route cause accidents, the police said.