New Delhi: A local lawyer and Mumbai Police personnel rescued 54-year-old Sanjay More, a Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport Undertaking (BEST) bus driver, who was attacked by an irate mob after the electric vehicle he was driving lost control and crushed seven people on a buzzing road in Kurla (West) on Monday night.
Siddique Ashif Hussain, aged 30, a resident of the area near the accident site on SG Barve Road, was prompt enough to intervene and protect the driver.
Ashif Hussain was quoted by PTI as saying: “I was at home when I heard a loud noise. I rushed outside and saw two policemen lying injured in a police vehicle.” Hussain opened the door of the damaged vehicle and immediately rushed the injured cops to a nearby hospital. Upon returning, he and his friends, rescued three others who were stuck under the police SUV. Hussain added that he then noticed a belligerent crowd attacking the bus driver Sanjay More.
‘I took a few blows’
Hussain said he intervened, and pleaded with people to stop hitting the driver. “I took a few blows in the process, but with the help of the police, we managed to get the driver to safety,” he added. Hussain said the bus conductor had taken shelter in a nearby dentist’s clinic to escape the mob’s anger. Hussain gave him new clothes and then escorted him on a motorbike to the Kurla police station.
“The mob was furious. Had we not arrived in time, and had local residents not helped us, the angry people would not have spared the driver and conductor,” a senior police official said.
Taking to X, Hussain wrote, “Dear residents of Kurla, I have received countless calls and messages from many of you, expressing your anger and frustration towards me. I understand the pain and sorrow that you feel, and I want to address your concerns.”
“Yesterday, I made a difficult decision in an attempt to save the life of a bus driver, and I did so with the belief that violence would only bring more harm and no real resolution. As much as I understand the raw emotions in this situation, I truly believe that an eye for an eye only leaves the world in darkness.” Hussain said. The lawyer underlined that he had no regrets about his actions, but “my heart aches for the families who have lost their loved ones”.
Dear residents of Kurla,
I have received countless calls and messages from many of you, expressing your anger and frustration towards me. I understand the pain and sorrow that you feel, and I want to address your concerns.
Yesterday, I made a difficult decision in an attempt to… pic.twitter.com/pPxZL3EevK
— ADV SIDDIQUE ASHIF HUSAIN🇮🇳 (@AdvAshif) December 10, 2024
Later, Sanjay More was arrested on charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and other provisions under the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita. The e-bus ploughed into pedestrians and vehicles around 9:30 pm on Monday in Kurla (West), leaving several dead on the crowded street. Police said More didn’t have the experience of driving EVs, and had undergone only a 10-day training for driving electric buses.
