Chandigarh-Ludhiana National Highway blocked as student stabs bus conductor

MOHALI: After a 20-year-old student of a Gharuan-based private university stabbed a PRTC bus conductor, drivers and conductors of Punjab Roadways and PRTC blocked Chandigarh-Ludhiana National Highway for over one-and-a-half hour on Thursday.
Cops said it started at Samrala when the bus conductor asked the student to give his seat to an elderly man and the latter refused, leading to heated arguments. Other passengers intervened, but when they reached near the private university around 9am, the student stabbed the conductor, said the police.


After the incident, the bus driver called up Sector 43 Chandigarh bus stand in charge of PRTC and other drivers of government buses. They soon reached the spot and parked two buses each on both sides of the road and blocked it.

Police said the accused has been identified as Ranjeet Kumar, 20, of Ludhiana who is a third-year student of hotel management. Cops said the student had boarded the bus from Ludhiana and sat on one of the three seats in a row with two other students. When the bus reached Samrala bus stand, few other passengers boarded it.

Kharak Singh, Sector 43 bus stand in charge of PRTC, said, "The conductor, Rupinder Singh, a resident of Sapanwali village, Ferozepur, requested the student to get up so that an elderly man could sit. But he refused and argued. When the bus arrived at the private university gate, Ranjeet phoned his friends, called them to the spot and asked the conductor to come out of the bus. When the conductor stepped out, he thrashed him and stabbed in his head. We held the protest against the incident. Around 20 buses of PRTC and Punjab Roadways came out in our support. We ended the protest when cops assured that the accused would be arrested."

On the other side, friends of the student said, "The bus conductor thrashed Ranjeet when he refused to get up from the seat. When the bus reached near the university, both the conductor and Ranjeet got into arguments, which resulted in the incident." Gharuan station house officer Shivi Brar said, "We reached the spot on receiving information and have registered a case against the student under section 323 (punishment for voluntarily causing hurt) and 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means) of the Indian Penal Code."