Mumbai: In the sixth major accident involving the BEST fleet in two years, an electric AC bus of the undertaking rammed into multiple vehicles in busy traffic opposite Plaza Cinema in Dadar on Monday morning, killing a 22-year-old delivery boy and injuring six others. Though the cause of the mishap is being probed, human error appeared to be prima facie the reason as the driver apparently lost control of the bus after it left the bus stop near Veer Kotwal Garden at 9.30 am.However, the bus driver, Vikas Padave (42), who was also injured, called the bus “faulty.” Claiming there was a technical glitch, he told police that “when he released the hand brake (on leaving the bus stop), the bus automatically accelerated and went out of control.”The Shivaji Park police have booked the driver under various BNS sections along with Section 184 of the Motor Vehicles Act for causing death due to negligence, rash and negligent driving, and rash and negligent act endangering human life or safety.Eyewitnesses told police that the bus, which operates on route 463 and runs between Dadar and Dharavi, collided with vehicles, including a scooter, an electric bike, a taxi, a car and an electric car, at high speed.BEST assistant general manager R M Madavi said a four-member committee of senior BEST officers and technical experts has been constituted to investigate the mishap and submit its report as priority given the seriousness of the incident.Seven victims of the accident were rushed to Sion Hospital. Among them was 28-year-old Niyaz Ali, who was brought dead to hospital. He served as delivery boy for an app-based food delivery platform. Rishabh Gupta, 22, who is also delivery boy for the same platform, is fighting for his life with severe head injuries.A 40-year-old pedestrian Amit Mhatre, who was struck by the bus, suffered blunt trauma to his back, left shoulder, and thigh, doctors said.The other four injured were BEST workers, two of them bus inspectors. While bus driver Padave suffered minor trauma to his left knee, bus inspector Mahesh Doiphode (50) sustained blunt trauma to his left leg, left wrist, and back, and another bus inspector Satish Waghmare (48) suffered trauma to his left chest. The bus conductor, Rajendra Pelekar, who was also hurt, was in stable condition, doctors said.All the injured were referred to the orthopaedic ward. However, hospital officials said all the other BEST workers except the driver later left the hospital and “absconded” after their X-rays were done, likely seeking treatment elsewhere. Mhatre too could not be traced till the time of going to press.The CCTV grab of the accident went viral, reminding Mumbaikars of the BEST bus crashes of Kurla in 2024 and Bhandup in 2025 (see graphic).Police and BEST officials said the team of experts is investigating the reason behind Monday’s accident. BEST AGM Madavi said the driver, Padave, has prior experience of handling wet lease buses. Records indicate Padave had earlier worked with another wet lease bus operator from Jan 2020 and later joined Evey Trans (the wet lease operator in this case) in March 2021 and is considered “well-experienced in driving such vehicles.”A police officer told TOI, “The bus driver, who has been served an arrest notice, told me there was a technical error. He said that when he started the bus and released the hand brake, the bus automatically got accelerated. He said that acceleration also got locked, hence he was unable to control the vehicle, but he tried his best by ramming into vehicles instead of hitting pedestrians and in the melee, bikers who came in the way were hit.”Separately, after the accident, BEST panel chairperson Trushna Vishwasrao called a meeting of all wet lease bus operators on Monday and told them to prevent accidents and ensure safety of passengers as well as pedestrians.The BEST has now also decided to carry out inspections of all electric buses in its fleet to check for technical defects. Drivers are also being sensitised on safety measures and protocols specific to operating electric buses, officials said.
