Case filed against Nagpur MP bus stand depot manager, bus owners over unauthorised passenger transport

Nagpur: Private buses have been found carrying passengers without permission from the MP bus stand on Tekdi Road. Sitabuldi police have registered a case against the stand's depot manager, Rafiq Bhai, and against bus owners, drivers and private agents who carried passengers without permission. The complaint alleges that passengers were misled and charged extra money, and that the government lost revenue.

The complaint was filed by Virendra Laxmikant Dubey (55), president of the Nagpur Bus Transport Welfare Federation. According to his complaint, the federation has 15 members in all. The body works to resolve problems of people connected with private buses, travels and passenger transport in Nagpur city.

The complaint states that permitted buses carrying passengers between Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh are allowed to pick up and drop passengers at the MP bus stand. About 70 buses carry passengers from the spot every day. However, the complainant had learnt that for the past one year buses without permits were coming to Nagpur from some bus stands in Madhya Pradesh. He then inspected the MP bus stand. He alleged that buses bearing the numbers MP 22 P 2965, MP 07 P 2286, MP 28 P 4786, MP 28 ZD 7319, MP 28 ZD 9936, MP 18 ZAD 4977, MP 52 ZA 3699 and MP 39 P 2111, along with some other buses, were carrying passengers without permission.

Staff allegedly threatened

According to the complaint, the drivers concerned used the MP bus stand's space to enter the premises and left from there with passengers. It is alleged that bus stand staff were threatened when they objected to this activity. The complaint says passengers of officially permitted bus services were being inconvenienced as a result.

Depot manager Rafiq Bhai has also been accused of allowing buses without permits to enter the bus stand and carry passengers from there. The complainant has further claimed that some private agents mislead passengers, seat them in buses without permits and collect the fare from them. The complaint says this activity is causing a loss of revenue to the government and that passengers are being cheated. The complainant has demanded legal action against the drivers carrying passengers without permission, the bus owners concerned, the depot manager and the private agents.