Kottayam: Unsavoury incidents involving inter-state bus chain Kallada Travels are being frequently reported. A few days after a molestation bid onboard its Manipal-Thiruvanathapuram bus, another bus from the same company plying the Kottayam-Bengaluru route had to be chased down by an RTO squad after it was found being dangerously driven. A fine of Rs 6,000 and other charges were collected from the crew over this.
It is said the bus was not pulled over despite being signalled by an official of the RTO enforcement squad. The squad members then pursued the bus and was made to stop after a seven-kilometre chase.
The incident happened at around 8pm on Sunday in front of the Ettumanoor temple in Kottayam district. The squad was conducting an inspection when the bus arrived. When the official signalled the bus to stop, the driver sped away.
Meanwhile, another bus of Kallada Travels was also stopped by the squad at Ettumanoor. The staff from that bus contacted their colleagues in the bus that left without stopping. It had reached Kothanellur by then. By the time they pulled over, the squad members too reached there. The bus was brought back to Ettumanoor and the fine was collected before it was given permission to continue the journey.
The squad led by enforcement RTO V M Chacko included motor vehicle inspector Thomas Sacaria, assistant motor vehicle inspectors O A Anshad, S Sunil Kumar and H Rajeesh.
Last week the driver of a Kallada bus was nabbed by the police near Thenhipalam in Kerala's Malappauram district following a complaint filed by a woman passenger for misbehaving with her.