Mayor-bus driver row: Missing CCTV memory card of bus hampers probe

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The Kerala Police probing the alleged blocking of the KSRTC bus by Thiruvananthapuram Mayor Arya Rajendran and her husband, K M Sachin Dev, Balussery MLA, resulting in the truncation of the bus service causing hardship to the passengers found that the memory card of the Digital video Recorder (DVR) inside the bus was missing.

As part of the investigation, the police obtained the DVR to examine the CCTV footage from the bus. However, upon further inspection, it was found that the memory card was missing from the DVR raising doubts about the absence of crucial evidence.

Transport Minister KB Ganesh Kumar sought an investigation on the missing memory card in the KSRTC bus stopped by Mayor Arya Rajendran and her husband.

Husband-wife duo got into an altercation with a KSRTC driver on Saturday night, claiming that the driver made indecent gestures when their private vehicle overtook the bus. The driver, HL Yadhu, was arrested by the police on charges of reckless driving and misconduct. However, he was released on bail later.

The CCTV footage would be crucial in determining whether the bus was over-speeding or overtaking the vehicles as alleged by the Mayor.

The driver of the bus has filed a complaint against the mayor and her husband for blocking the road. However, the police didn’t act on the complaint.

Amid reluctance of the police to act on the complaint against the husband-wife duo, the bus driver said he would take legal route against the police lethargy.

The driver alleged that the mayor and her husband blocked the bus resulting in the truncation of the bus service and caused hardship to the passengers.

He also alleged that the police turned a blind eye towards two complaints he had filed and when the matter snowballed into a controversy, the cops registered a case against two unknown people, in order to protect the mayor and her husband.

The KSRTC bus was blocked by the mayor and her husband on Saturday night at Palayam here, alleging that the driver did not let them overtake and used sexually loaded gestures at the women passengers, including Arya Rajendran. The mayor said they did not stop the bus and it was when the bus stopped at a signal that they approached the driver.