HYDERABAD: CCTV cameras, which have been instrumental in nabbing wrongdoers, on Thursday helped officials establish the innocence of an RTC driver, saving him from landing behind bars and losing his job.

N Komuraiah was charged with rash and negligent driving resulting in the death of a 33-year old after his bus ran over the man near Shameerpet on Rajiv Rahadari Highway on Wednesday.

An analysis of CCTV footage from the spot revealed that the deceased had jumped onto the road and squatted before the bus in a matter of seconds, leaving the driver no time to respond. “If not for the footage, I would have had to lead the rest of my life as a guilty person. The keen observation of the police has saved my life and my job,” he said. When Komuraiah was driving along Aliyabad crossroad around 8.15 am in RTC bus numbered AP 15AZ 0165, L Sathyam, working for a furniture manufacturing company, got caught under the vehicle’s wheels.

Komuraiah, had until Wednesday, not met a single accident. A case of causing death due to rash and negligent driving was registered against him. On scrutinising CCTV footage it was found that Sathyam threw himself under the bus in an apparent attempt to commit suicide.

“This incident has once again proved how important CCTV cameras are. We have installed 100 cameras in our jurisdiction in the past two-and-half months,” said Shameerpet inspector B Naveen Reddy.

Similar incidents

• In September 2016, Ahmed Abdul Bari, a medical graduate planning to travel abroad for higher studies, was cleared by CCTV footage showing deceased’s suicide.
• In Feb 2015, a truck driver was falsely booked for rash driving causing death and relieved after footage confirmed the deceased committing suicide