"Berserk" bus driver mows down 9 in Pune

Pune, Jan 25 (IBNS) A Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) driver rammed his bus around Pune city on Wednesday morning, crushing to death nine people, injuring 27 and wrecking some 40 vehicles during his 45 minute, 20 km-long rampage.

Police were interrogating the driver, 39-year-old Santosh Maruti Mane, who was arrested and is likely to be charged with murder, trying to determine what sparked his fit of anger.

"He just went berserk. He was in such a dangerous kind of mood," city police commissioner Meeran Borwanker told reporters.

Mane, who reportedly told a team of doctors examining hims that he has been undergoing psychiatric treatment, was not drunk, police sources said.

Police attempted to drive the bus to a halt by firing shots at its tyres after chasing it down the wrong side of the road during the morning rush-hour chaos.

However, it was a college student, Sharif Ibrahim Kutty, who eventually managed to climb on board the bus overpower Mane, media reports said.

"I saw a bus approach a woman and a young child and it just crushed her and then kept going, dragging her with it," Kutty told television news network NDTV.

"I got on my bike and I started chasing him. The police fired three rounds, but in vain. At a particular stage near a theatre, he lost control of the bus," he said.

According to reports, the wife and doctor of the driver have said that he was "overstressed and suffering from serious mental illness" for the last two years.

MSRTC managing director Deepak Kapoor told a national daily that Mane had been involved in five accidents in 11 years of service, however, the incidents were "minor" and there were no fatalities.

According to police sources, Mane was supposed to drive a Pune-Waduste bus from the Swargate depot at 10.15 am.

At around 8 am, however, he climbed into a parked Pune-Satara bus, started it with a master key, and drove out of the depot throttling down Shankar Sheth Road on the wrong side.

A bystander called police control room after seeing the bus hit a vehicle near Hotel Seven Loves, and soon, two officers on a bike were on Mane´s tail.

Mane kept charging down busy city roads at very high speeds, driving frequently on the wrong side for nearly 20 km and ignoring several shots fired by the police.

He was finally forced to slow down after two cars that he hit on Sinhagad Road near Sarasbaug, locked his way, witnesses said.

Sharif Kutty, a third year BCA student of Poona College, who chased the bus on his bike from Golibar Maidan was among those who jumped in and overpowered Mane.

"I was going to my college when I saw this bus hurling down at about 70-80 km per hour. It mowed down a woman along with her child," he said.

"He came back and circled three times. I tried to stop him but he didn't hear me and went on. I followed," Kutty said.

"He ignored shots fired by the police but later lost control when he hit a Maruti car. He slowed down and I managed to board the bus, followed by two cops," he said.

"As soon as he was caught, he started saying 'Kill Me'. He didn't appear to have any kind of remorse or fear nor was he drunk," Kutty said.

Police Commissioner Meeran Borwankar said Mane would be charged with mass murder.

"He was working till Tuesday evening. Investigation is on to know what made him take charge of the Pune-Satara bus," she said.