Cuttack, Sept 26: Demanding the withdrawal of the case on Rishabh Tripathy, the owner of ‘Maharaja’ bus who has been arrested for the Athamalik bus mishap, the Private Bus Owners’ Association’s president Prakash Mishra on Sunday announced that all private buses in the city will be halted for 24 hours, from 6 pm on September 29 to 6 am September 30. Also, the bus owners and staff will wear black badges to mark the illegal arrest of Tripathy.
From October 7, the Association will hold an indefinite strike if the government does not withdraw the case before October 6, informed Mishra.
It may be noted that in the Athamalik bus mishap on September 9, where 19 persons lost their life and 30 sustained serious injuries as the ill-fated bus fell off a bridge, the owner of the bus Rishabh Kumar Tripathi was arrested by the police on Friday.
Based upon allegation that careless driving was the reason behind the accident, police had arrested the driver on September 11. But during interrogation the driver in his statement said that the failure of the steering wheel had led to the accident.
