ST conductor pops off for a drink leaving bus stranded; suspended

First India Bureau

Latur: The conductor of a Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation bus has been suspended for heading out for a drink while leaving his passengers stranded, in Latur district, officials said on Friday.

The incident took place on Thursday morning on the route between Latur and Kalamb in Osmanabad, an official said.

“The conductor got the bus to halt at Katgaon village and got off. Irate passengers, who waited for more than an hour, set out in search of him and found him sitting at a local watering hole,” the official said.

“He was suspended after a medical check-up showed he had consumed alcohol during duty hours.

There were 38 passengers

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He left 38 passengers stranded in Latur dist, and traipsed off to the local watering hole in the bus,” the MSRTC Osmanabad divisional traffic controller said. This comes a day after an unidentified man drove off with a Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) bus from Latur and abandoned it in a village some 14 kilometres away in neighbouring Karnataka. “The bus, which was deployed for services on the Nilanga-Aurad Shahajani route, was parked by driver Balaji Keokane at the end of his duty hours and was stolen between 3 am and 6 am,” a police official had said on Thursday.