Udupi: Manipal police have arrested a 20-year-old school bus conductor after an investigation revealed that he, and not his father as initially claimed, was driving a school bus involved in an accident that injured several students.The accident occurred at around 8.05am on June 25 near the Syndicate Circle flyover on National Highway 169(A), within the Manipal police station limits.Police said the school bus rammed into a road divider after climbing onto it, injuring several schoolchildren.Following the accident, the bus conductor, Mohammed Rahij, 20, of Katapady, lodged a complaint stating that his father, Rizwan, was driving the bus at the time. Based on the complaint, Manipal Police registered a case under sections 281 and 125(a) of the BNS.During the investigation, police examined CCTV footage from the accident site and found that Mohammed Rahij himself had been driving the school bus and had crashed it into the divider.Further investigation revealed that Rahij did not possess a valid driving licence. Police subsequently invoked sections 110 and 229 of the BNS for furnishing false information and other relevant offences.Police also said that the owners of the school bus had knowingly allowed an unlicensed person to drive the vehicle, endangering the lives of schoolchildren. Action has been initiated against both the vehicle owners and the accused driver.The accused was arrested and produced before the court Friday, which remanded him to judicial custody.
