Ludhiana: In a strange case, a PRTC bus parked outside Ludhiana bus stand was stolen early on Aug 29. The driver came to know about the theft when he reported for work later that day.He circulated details of the bus in a WhatsApp group of drivers and found the bus parked near Dhatt village in Jagraon that afternoon. Its tyres and batteries were missing. However, no FIR has been lodged nine days after the incident. Police said the complaint was not lodged on time.Eventually, driver Gurwinder Singh got the bus towed from the spot, about 21km from the bus stand, and had new tyres and batteries installed.According to Gurwinder, he parked the bus outside the bus stand on the night of Aug 28. When he reported for work around 7:30am on Aug 29, he found the bus missing. On checking CCTV cameras in the area, he learnt that the bus had been stolen around 12:30am. CCTV footage showed about eight men arriving in a Mahindra Bolero pickup. They stayed for about two hours before driving away with the bus around 2:30am. They broke the wires in the bus to start its engine.Gurwinder immediately circulated details of the stolen bus in his WhatsApp groups, which included PRTC drivers as well as those driving large and small buses. The drivers regularly share information about routes and buses.Gurwinder said that by the afternoon of Aug 29, a man who operates a mini-bus in rural areas contacted him and said he had seen a PRTC bus parked near Dhatt village. Gurwinder and others reached the location and identified the bus, which had been placed on bricks.Gurwinder added that seven tyres, including the spare, and two batteries had been stolen. The accused also damaged the CCTV cameras installed inside the bus.He said, “The way the accused tampered with the system to start the bus, I believe they have technical knowledge of the system or are into driving or repairing buses. I incurred a loss of about Rs 8 lakh.”The driver alleged that a complaint regarding the bus theft was lodged with the police, but no action was taken. He therefore decided to search for the bus on his own using social media.in charge of the bus stand police post, ASI Karnail Singh, dismissed the allegations and said the police had not initially been informed about the theft.He said the police have now received a complaint and action has been initiated. The police have obtained CCTV footage showing the Bolero pickup used in the crime and have also traced its registration number. The ASI added that the suspects had been identified and would soon be arrested.
