HIDDEN BEHIND THE WHEEL? QUESTIONS ABOUT THE CALVIM TRAGEDY ... By Miguel Braganza braganza.mig...@gmail.com
----------------------------------------------------------- Originally posted on Aldona-Net http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aldona-net ----------------------------------------------------------- I have been reading the English-language and the Marathi newspapers to find out what exactly happened regarding one mystery person -- Samarth Shirodkar, aged 17 years -- on the ill-fated bus that went into the river at Lankdem jetty, Carona ward of Aldona, from where the ferry takes one to the island of Calvim. As far as I know my geography, it is the Mapusa River which is a tributary of the Mandovi. At this time of the year, it just does not matter because of the salt water inflows after the end of the rains. * Why was Samarth in the bus till the Carona jetty if he was not going to Calvim? [a] Joy ride with his neighbour the driver Rajesh Chandrakant Naik, aged 26 years, or [b] Assisting the conductor, Vishnu Harmalkar, to drive the bus or double up as conductor while the conductor drove the bus. * Where was Samarth seated or standing in the near-empty bus at the time of the accident? * How did the bus go into the river? [a] Head on as reported by most newspapers including TOI or [b] Reversed into the river (as reported by some Marathi newspapers including Tarun Bharat). * How did he come out of the bus when it hit the water in the river? [a] According to the Mapusa Police (reported by Preetu Venugopalan Nair in the TOI on 22 Feb), Samarth was thrown out of the bus from the passenger door on impact with the water [b] Samarth is reported to have told Murari Shetye also of TOI [23 Feb] that he came out of the window behind the driver's seat, which is the opposite side of the passenger door. (The RTO which inspected the bus after the accident has confirmed that the driver's door was latched from the inside. In any case, it would not be possible to open the door once the bus was submerged. Ditto for the passenger door, if it was shut as mandated by law when the bus is in motion.) [c] according to Tarun Bharat [Marathi] on 23 Feb, Samarth came out (not 'thrown out') of the passenger door. * Who swam out of the bus with Samarth Shirodkar? [a] The driver, Rajesh Chandrakant Naik, aged 26 years, or [b] The conductor, Vishnu Harmalkar * Whose house did Samarth go to after the accident and till his father picked him up, obviously with a change of clothes? [a] The conductor, Vishnu Harmalkar's house, as reported by Murari Shetye in TOI, or [b] A friend's house as reported by Tarun Bharat * Is Samarth Shirodkar a current student of St. Thomas HSS or a past student? If current student, which stream of Vocational education and Std XI or Std. XII? * Why did the Mapusa Police and its Aldona Outpost officials not reveal this information on Sunday or Monday, if not on Saturday itself? * Is Samarth Shirodkar's father really a former BJP President of Aldona Block as reported by Murari Shetye in TOI? * Is any politician involved in forcing the Mapusa Police to suppress/manipulate the information? * Who is the Investigating Officer of the Section 304 Culpable Homicide case reported to have been registered at the Mapusa Police Station? * What is the report filed by the I.O. with the District Collector of North Goa who is conducting the "Magisterial Inquiry" ordered by the State Government into the accident? Angry though we may be with the possibility that the Juvenile, Samarth Shirodkar, may have caused the death of four little children and two adults, the blame must rest squarely on the shoulders of the adults who let it happen. The driver of the bus has a responsibility to drive the bus, as licensed by the RTO and other authorities, and be responsible for the safety of the passengers. The owner of the bus has the responsibility to ensure that only authorized persons drive the bus. The conductor also has the responsibility to ensure that only an authorized driver drives the bus even if there is only one passenger. So the full responsibility lies with: [a] The driver, Rajesh Chandrakant Naik, and [b] The conductor, Vishnu Harmalkar, with collateral responsibility with the owner of the bus. If Samarth Shirodkar was permitted to drive the bus, the driver has to take the rap anyway as the direct cause of the accident, by commission or by omission. If Samarth Shirodkar has complicity in the accident, he must be dealt with by the Juvenile Justice System or the Children's Court of Law. Justice is another matter altogether in a country where the persons responsible for the Bhopal Gas tragedy that killed hundreds and maimed lakhs of persons, get a two year rap for "criminal negligence" after 25 years of "legal process" and a petty thief is sometimes jailed as an under-trial for ten years and then pronounced innocent. I have the highest respect for the judiciary, it is the set of laws and the legal system that does not work. We have seen people build illegal structures with police protection using the loopholes in the law and very intelligent and highly qualified lawyers, in one case where all the authorities and even the builder has no documents to prove the legality of the structures under construction, constructed or even occupied by business. (ENDS) Goanet Reader is compiled and edited by Frederick Noronha. Send submissions to f...@goa-india.org ----------------------------------------------------------- And a report from the Times of India: Was 17-yr-old driving Calvim bus? TNN Feb 24, 2012, 04.34AM IST PANAJI: Was a 17-year-old boy behind the wheel of the ill-fated bus that plunged into the Calvim river on February 18 killing six persons? More glaring contradictions have come to the fore after police admitted that another person, Samarth Shirodkar, was present in the bus at the time of the accident. Shirodkar, a student at St Thomas higher secondary school, Aldona, has denied he was driving the bus. He also said on TOI's Thursday edition that he had boarded the bus for a fun ride as there were no classes last Saturday. The school authorities, when contacted, refuted his statement and said classes were held as usual. "The school was open on Saturday. The boy is a student of Class XI vocational stream, which had classes. The boy had bunked class and was absent for the day. His attendance after the first term (after Diwali vacation) is also very poor," school authorities said. Another point to note is the statement made by the witness on the scene. "I saw the driver and conductor pop out of the bus after it went into the river," the witness said. This contradicts the statement by police at the media briefing on the day of the incident. "According to witnesses and the bus driver, there were seven persons in the bus. Four students, two women and one man," police had said. Besides the four deceased students, the man was the deceased Dayanand Hoble and the woman, the deceased Josefina Dias. The other woman, who the driver thought was present, was Rachel Mendonca, who said she was not on the ill-fated bus. The driver Rajesh Naik allegedly did not tell the police about the presence of the boy in the bus. Questions arise as to why he hid the presence of the boy. Aldona residents told TOI that a practice among bus drivers on the Mapusa-Aldona-Calvim route and the Mapusa-Aldona-Quitula route is to alight from the buses at the Aldona 'tinto' (market bus stop) and hand over charge to their cleaners to continue the short trip to the Carona-Calvim ferry and back. The bus drivers also do the same for the short trip to Quitula and back, locals said. "This is usually in the afternoon, when the drivers alight at the 'tinto' for food and a little drink. They hand the bus over to the cleaners or young boys learning to drive, to complete the trip. The lives of passengers are put in the hands of cleaners unqualified for bus driving," said a resident. If the police claim witnesses say Naik was driving the bus till the second-last stop, was Shirodkar given the wheel to take the bus to the ferry ramp and reverse? Transport director Arun Naik told TOI that the brakes and gear system of the bus are in "perfect working condition" and has ruled out any mechanical error as the cause of the accident. People in Aldona say that bus drivers are known to cut off the engine on the over 100-metre long slope towards the Calvim ferry to cut down on fuel costs. "Drivers actually take the bus right onto the ferry ramp with the engine off before putting the vehicle in second gear to re-start the engine. This technique must have failed on that day," a local said. The transport department also says that the bus' fitness certificate was issued in July, 2011, the pollution under control certificate was valid till July 2012 and the bus insurance was valid till February 27, 2012. tnn http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-02-24/goa/31094941_1_bus-drivers-calvim-ferry-conductor --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Protect Goa's natural beauty Support Goa's first Tiger Reserve Sign the petition at: http://www.goanet.org/petition/petition.php ---------------------------------------------------------------------------