Chennai: The driver of the tourist bus–Jomon Pathrose aka Jojo–which rammed into a KSRTC vehicle killing nine people was booked under charges of homicide on Friday. Jomon who was absconding was found to have been booked previously under charges for drunk and negligent driving.
On Wednesday, a tourist bus that was transporting 42 school children and teachers for a tour to Ooty rammed into Kerala State Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus. The gory mishap led to the death of nine persons including five children.
Following this, Alathur Deputy Superintendent of Police took over the investigation into the case and booked Jomon under section 304 (culpable homicide) of Indian Penal Code. The police also said that the accident was caused due to overspeeding and reckless driving. They also said that Jomon had already been booked for negligent driving including in AP, said a report on Manorama.
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The police also booked the owner of the tourist bus for failing to act despite getting alerts regarding the overspeeding of the bus. The speed governor of the bus which limits the speed of the bus was also found detached during inspections.
The bus was traveling at 97.7 kmph at the time of the mishap, said the report.
Jomon who was on the run was arrested on Thursday while he was traveling to Thiruvanathapuram. Two of Jomon's friends who helped him escape have also been taken into custody.
Jomon's blood samples have also been collected to find out if he was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the accident.
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Meanwhile, 2,895 people died due to road accidents from January till August 2022 in Kerala. Following this, Kerala police have requested people to report traffic violations. They have also issued a WhatsApp number to report the violations 9747001099.