By IANS,
Haveri: A 40-year-old bus driver was arrested Saturday here for allegedly molesting a woman passenger travelling from Bangalore to Belgaum in this Karnataka district, police said.
Haveri is about 500 km from Bangalore.
“The accused driver (Shakeel Ahmed) has been arrested under section 354 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) for attempting to molest a woman passenger in the sleeper bus in which she was travelling to Belgaum from Bangalore. He has been produced in a local court for 14-day judicial custody,” Haveri Superintendent of Police Chetan Singh Rathore told IANS.
The luxury bus with curtains and tinted glass windows, belonging to the Bangalore-based Seabird Travels had two drivers for the night journey.
At the time of the incident, Ahmed was reportedly sleeping in the aisle (pathway) of the bus where the victim’s berth was also located.
Ahmed attempted to grope on her around 03:30 a.m. while she was asleep.
“Some of the co-passengers, who woke up on hearing the victim shouting and screaming, stopped the bus midway on the state highway and called the police by alerting the control room,” the official said.
“The bus was taken to the nearby Bankapur Police Station where the complaint was lodged and the driver was handed over to the police for attempting to molest her,” Rathore said.
The bus reached Belgaum later in the day with the shell-shocked victim and other passengers under police escort.
Seabird Travels managing director C. Nagaraj said Shakeel would be removed from service if the molestation charge was proved against him and if he was convicted.