Team Goemkarponn
VERNA: Verna police have arrested the driver of the ill-fated mini bus that overturned at Upasnagar, Sancoale, leading to the deaths of two people and injuries to 32 others. The driver, identified as Akbar Goji of Fakirgalli, Vasco, was allegedly under the influence of alcohol and driving rashly at the time of the accident.
According to the police complaint filed by PSI Mahesh Bhomkar of Verna Police Station, the incident occurred on May 8 around 4:00 pm near the Queeny Nagar junction. Goji had allegedly allowed excess passengers to board the bus, some of whom were seated in the driver’s cabin. While heading from IDC Verna to Vasco, he lost control of the vehicle at Upasnagar due to over-speeding. The bus skidded, overturned, and crashed into a road divider.
The accident resulted in the death of the bus conductor, Shivaraja Madara, a resident of Birla, Sancoale and a native of Bijapur, Karnataka. His body was sent to SGDH, Margao, where an autopsy confirmed that he died due to severe injuries to the head, chest and abdomen, along with a near amputation of the right leg caused by blunt force impact.
Another critically injured passenger, Bhim Kumar Yadav from Khushinagar, Uttar Pradesh, succumbed to his injuries while undergoing treatment at GMC, Bambolim.
Police stated that the driver fled the scene without alerting emergency services or the police. He has since been arrested and remanded to three days in police custody.
A case has been registered under Sections 281, 105, 125(a), 125(b) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, along with Sections 134-A, 134-B, 185, 125, and 192(A) of the Motor Vehicles Act.
The investigation is being carried out by PSI Carey Fernandes of Verna Police Station, under the supervision of PI Anand Shirodkar and guidance of Mormugao DySP Gurudas Kadam.
