Maharashtra Motor Vehicle Department (MMVD) has cancelled the registration of the private sleeper coach bus that caught fire killing 25 passengers on the Samruddhi Expressway in Buldhana early this month and also scrapped the licence of its driver, an official said on Tuesday.
The deputy regional transport office (RTO) in Yavatmal has cancelled the licence of the errant bus driver based on a forensic report of the accident received from the police, an official said. The sleeper coach bus caught fire after hitting a divider on the Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi Expressway at Pimpalkhuta village in Buldhana district in the wee hours of July 1. As many as 25 passengers were charred to death, while eight others, including the driver and cleaner (driver’s assistant) of the bus, survived the horrific accident.
According to the police, a forensic probe into the tragedy has revealed the bus driver was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the accident. The driver was subsequently arrested for negligent driving. The RTO has also cancelled the registration of the sleeper coach bus (whose number plate was MH29 BE1819), the official said.