A worker died after a wet-leased BEST bus struck the open rear door of a parked poultry tempo in Andheri’s Majas area, with police arresting the bus driver in a case involving death by negligence and dangerous driving.
The incident occurred at about 10.15am near the MIDC area on Wednesday, when the bus operating on route 441 was travelling from Majas depot towards Andheri. The deceased, identified as 53-year-old Farid Shaikh, was unloading chickens from the parked tempo when its rear door collided with the bus’s left rear corner and rebounded into him.
MIDC police arrested the driver, 49-year-old Ashok Shinde, and later released him on a notice, according to a police officer quoted by the Times of India. Police said the driver was booked under provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita relating to death due to negligence and rash driving, as well as under the Motor Vehicles Act for dangerous driving.
According to a BEST official, Shinde told authorities that Shaikh opened the tempo’s rear door as the bus was passing. The door struck the bus and was forced back towards the worker, causing him to fall. The official said passengers alerted the driver, who stopped the bus further ahead and called the police emergency number.
The bus driver and conductor were summoned to the MIDC police station for questioning, while both vehicles were taken there for examination. The bus was also sent to Majas Depot for a Regional Transport Office inspection, police said.
Shaikh was taken to hospital after the collision. Police said his injury did not initially appear severe, but he later died while undergoing treatment, approximately 12 hours after the incident. An officer said he succumbed to shock.
Local workers who witnessed the incident gave a similar account, saying the tempo door opened while the bus was passing and was hit by the vehicle’s rear section. The impact knocked Shaikh to the ground and left him critically injured.
The incident highlights the risks created when commercial loading and unloading takes place beside moving traffic on busy urban roads. The police investigation will establish the circumstances of the collision, while the vehicle inspection and statements from the driver, conductor, witnesses and other officials will form part of the case.
