Engineer Sarvesh Karolikar, 34, dies after Sanjay Travels bus hits his bicycle in Nagpur

Sarvesh Karolikar, a 34-year-old engineer, died during treatment in Nagpur after being hit by a bus of Sanjay Travels. He breathed his last in hospital on Monday. Karolikar was an engineering topper at the Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology (VNIT). His death has again raised questions about the accountability of private bus operators.

The accident took place on October 26 at around 10.30 am on RPTS Road in the Bajaj Nagar area, near Asli Coffee Cafe. Karolikar was cycling when a Sanjay Travels bus with Madhya Pradesh registration number MP-20-ZV-0651 allegedly hit him hard.

Seriously injured, Karolikar was first taken to Swasthyam Hospital. He was later shifted to Vivekanand Hospital for better treatment. Despite the doctors' efforts, he could not be saved and died on Monday. His family is shattered.

The bus driver allegedly fled the spot after the collision. Bajaj Nagar police have booked the case under Section 106 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

This is not the first serious accident involving a Sanjay Travels bus. Two other major accidents involving the same operator's buses have come to light in the past five months. On September 9, a bus of the company hit a two-wheeler near Vaishnodevi Chowk in Nagpur, seriously injuring a woman and her four-year-old daughter. Earlier, on June 4, a Sanjay Travels bus travelling from Nagpur to Pune collided with a tipper truck on the Samruddhi Expressway. Nineteen passengers were injured, four of them reported to be in serious condition.

Three serious accidents have occurred in five months, and now a young engineer has lost his life. This has raised questions about the maintenance of the company's buses, the monitoring of its drivers, and the role of transport officials in enforcing road safety rules. The circumstances of the three accidents may differ, but taken together they point to a need for a deeper inquiry into the operator's compliance with safety rules and the monitoring of its buses.

Questions are also being asked about whether these buses undergo mechanical checks at fixed intervals, and whether key parts such as brakes, tyres and steering are properly examined. It is also being asked whether drivers are trained, medically fit and fully rested before long journeys, and whether their duty hours are monitored. Another question is whether the transport department genuinely inspects private operators or relies only on fitness certificates and paperwork. As the bus involved was registered in Madhya Pradesh, the monitoring of commercial vehicles from other states is also in question.

The investigation should establish the exact circumstances of the collision, the driver's conduct and the mechanical condition of the bus. It should also examine whether any violation of transport safety rules played a part in the accident. The two earlier accidents should also be examined to see whether they reveal any common lapse in maintenance, driver management or safety rules. If the inquiry finds lapses in the operator's management or maintenance, responsibility should not end with the driver. The transport department and police are expected to fix accountability.