A bus with 34 passengers, believed to have been hijacked, had actually been forcibly taken over by the company that had financed it as its loan instalments had not been paid on time.
Agra’s SSP Babloo Kumar said, “It was not a case of hijack. Prima facie, it appears that the finance company was trying to recover its loan. We are tracing the employees of the company responsible for the act.”
On Tuesday night, a bus on the Agra Express Highway, travelling from Gurugram to Panna (Madhya Pradesh) went off its route some time after it had stopped for dinner at the New Dakhini bypass. The passengers were, reportedly, paid back their fares and put on another bus while the driver and the conductor of the bus were driven away in two vehicles. The bus meanwhile went missing, raising suspicion that it had been hijacked along with its occupants.
The missing bus also drove through a toll plaza where an attempt was made to stop it. The bus, with registration number UP 75 M 3516, was recovered by Etawah Police from behind a dhaba at PS Balrai, Etawah. Senior officers reached the spot to conduct inquiry. Details have been shared with Agra police.
The finance company has not been officially named, but a source told THE WEEK that the company went by the name ‘Sri Ram Finance’.
The driver and the conductor of the bus, who were let off some distance from where the bus was taken away, had told the police that there were at least four people who kidnapped them. “They were speaking about eight instalments that needed to be paid,” said the conductor who also said that he was given Rs 300 by the kidnappers.
While the method used by the finance company to force the bus owner to pay up is bizarre, questions are being raised about how the operation was affected and the police version of events. According to one version, the police traced the bus and its occupants to Jhansi, while another says that the occupants were put on another bus, which took them to their destination.
A note issued by the state’s media department on Wednesday morning said, “Regarding the bus incident in Agra, the finance company had illegally seized the bus; all driver staff and passengers are safe. The bus owner died yesterday and his son is doing last rites (sic).”
The bus owner had passed away on Tuesday before the vehicle went missing.