Auto drivers protest at TMT depot
Strap: Seek help for the family of the auto driver killed in a collision with TMT bus

Devendra T Goregaonkar

Demanding justice for the family of an auto driver who was killed in a collision with a Thane Municipal Transport (TMT) bus on Monday, hundreds of auto drivers gathered at the Wagle Estate depot in Thane on Tuesday.
The accident occurred on Monday midnight at Wagle Estate when a 28-year-old auto driver Rajendra Ramchandra Gupta, resident of Pareira Nagar in Thane, was returning from a gas station to his house. The TMT bus was on its way to the depot when a truck loaded with iron angles allegedly brushed against the bus, thus injuring the driver Jagdeesh Yadav, 46. Losing control over the vehicle, Yadav bumped into a lamppost and then rammed into the auto rickshaw coming from the opposite direction thus killing Gupta on the spot. Yadav, on the other hand, has been admitted to the civil hospital.
Expressing solidarity with Gupta who lost his life due to the alleged negligence of the bus driver, over one hundred auto drivers allegedly ransacked two buses of the TMT and also reportedly tried to block the way of the other buses headed towards different routes. Finally, a delegation representing the auto unions along with the members of political parties met the TMT committee chairman Sudhakar Chavan. "We have agreed to pay a compensation of Rs2 lakh to the widow of the auto driver. She will also be offered a job with the TMT depending on her educational qualifications," Chavan said.
Meanwhile, the Wagle Estate police confirmed the arrest of Jaiprakash Mishra, 30, and Ajitkumar Yadav, 26, for allegedly ransacking the bus.
g_devendra@dnaindia.com