NEW DELHI: The private sleeper bus in which its driver and conductor allegedly gang-raped a 16-year-old student travelling from Greater Noida was registered in Firozabad in April this year.According to information, the bus had 12 traffic violation challans within three months, police said on Monday.Nine of the violations were recorded on the Yamuna Expressway in Mathura district, most of them for overspeeding, news agency PTI reported.The alleged gang rape took place on August 4, when the girl boarded the bus, bearing registration number UP 83 ET 3789, to travel to Noida Sector 63.She was allegedly abandoned near Kashmere Gate in Delhi after the crime.The girl later lodged a complaint at Kashmere Gate police station in Delhi.The bus was subsequently seized and its driver, Kuldee, 39, and conductor, Sandeep, 26, both residents of Kanpur, were arrested, police said.Additional superintendent of police (Rural) Suresh Chandra Rawat said a preliminary probe into the bus’s records showed repeated violations of traffic rules.The bus was registered in Firozabad on April 28, 2026, and was fined 12 times over the next three months, with nine challans issued in Mathura, he said.According to police records, the first challan was issued in Hamirpur on May 11 for illegal parking.The next day, the bus was fined Rs 4,000 for overspeeding in Mathura through the Intelligent Traffic Management System (ITMS), Rawat said.On June 23, it was again fined for allegedly picking up passengers illegally on the Yamuna Expressway.The violations continued in July, when the bus was fined for overspeeding on the expressway for six consecutive days. Each challan carried a penalty of Rs 4,000, taking the total fine during the six-day period to Rs 24,000.Police said the assistant regional transport officer (ARTO) imposed a total fine of Rs 26,000 on July 8 for operating without a permit, not having reflector tape and other deficiencies, PTI reported.The bus was again fined for overspeeding on the Yamuna Expressway in the Mathura area on July 11 and 12, Rawat said.“In just three months, the vehicle violated traffic rules 12 times, resulting in fines amounting to Rs 63,000,” he said.Rawat said CCTV footage and other data from cameras installed along the expressway have been preserved and can be provided to investigators, PTI reported.The data could help investigators determine the speed at which the bus was travelling, where it stopped and where it picked up passengers, he added.(With agency inputs)
