Bantwal, June 1: Traffic came to a halt for about six hours at BC road on the afternoon of Sunday May 31st, after a Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus driver stopped his bus on national highway 75 at Melkar near here in protest against what he termed as partiality on the part of policemen.
The road was completely packed due to the heavy flow of traffic on Sunday. Due to an auto rickshaw driver who tried to move in the space that was by not at all enough for his vehicle, the KSRTC bus had got struck in the traffic in the middle of the road. Meanwhile, the people also were getting down and boarding into the bus that had got stuck in the traffic.
Policemen who were controlling the traffic then served notice to the bus driver, in turn earning the wrath of the driver. He argued that he was not at fault. He objected to the attitude of the policemen in issuing notices to government buses, and allowing private buses to move freely. In protest, he stopped the bus on the highway. The passengers and other public’s who were at the spot also started arguing with the police personnel, supporting the bus driver, and claiming that he was not at fault.
Meanwhile, the traffic came to a halt and a long queue of vehicles was formed on the highway, and none of these vehicles could move to and fro.
Bantwal police circle inspector, K U Belliappa, town police sub-inspector, Nandakumar, rural police sub-inspector, Rakshit, and traffic sub-inspector, Chandrashekharaiah, rushed to the spot, and initiated appropriate measures. Later the traffic was cleared.
The police had also summoned additional forces after the bus passengers and publics joined the protest undertaken by KSRTC bus driver.
As Sunday is a busy day with lot of weddings scheduled, inflow of vehicles on this road was more.
