Three held for abducting conductor from government bus

CUDDALORE:  Three people were arrested for assaulting and kidnapping a Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) bus conductor at Vriddhachalam on Sunday night. Police said they are searching for three others involved in the incident, including a municipal councillor belonging to the PMK.

The bus conductor, A Manikandan (29) was working on a bus plying from Chidambaram to Vriddhachalam on Sunday evening when an argument broke out between him and a passenger identified as S Bhavani of Ramachandranpettai, police said. The woman allegedly informed her relative S Singaravel, a PMK member and the councillor for ward 27 of the Vriddhachalam municipality, about the incident. 

“Singaravel and his supporters waited at the Vriddhachalam bus stand and, once the bus reached there, they dragged Manikandan out, assaulted him and damaged the windows of the bus. After warning off members of the public, who tried to help the conductor, they took him away in an autorickshaw even as other bus drivers and conductors tried to rescue him,” sources in Vriddhachalam said. 

TNSTC bus drivers and conductors immediately boycotted their work and blocked the Vriddhachalam to Ulundurpet road near the bus stand in protest. They also prevented private buses from leaving the bus stand, demanding the conductor be immediately rescued. 

While one team of police personnel reached the spot and pacified the protesting workers, another team found Manikandan, who had been left on the roadside, and sent him to the Government Hospital in Vriddhachalam for treatment. Learning of this, the three-hour-long road block came to an end, but the TNSTC workers refused to operate buses till the accused were arrested.

Finally, at 10 pm they resumed duty after police told them three persons had been arrested. Due to the protests, traffic on Cuddalore, Salem, Ulundurpet and Tiruchy highways from Vriddhachalam were affected. Many passengers waited for up to four hours for bus services to fully resume at the Vriddhachalam bus stand. 

Police said a case had been filed against S Singaravel, G Govindarasu (20), T Mohanraj (40), M Vengatesan, R Ashokumar (19), and an unidentified person under six sections of the IPC at the Vriddhachalam police station. Govindarasu,  Mohanraj,  and Ashokumar were arrested on Sunday night. Police said the dispute began when Bhavani gave Manikandan `500 to buy a ticket and the latter asked for change.