‘I’ll drive the bus into a gorge’: Drunk Kerala bus driver sparks panic on Bengaluru–Mysuru Expressway

Bengaluru: A long-distance private sleeper bus from Kerala was forced to halt mid-journey after passengers alleged that the driver and cleaner were drunk.

The bus, which was travelling from Kozhikode to Chennai via Bengaluru, was stopped by passengers after it entered the Mysuru Expressway.

When the bus was halted at a toll plaza, passengers attempted to alert the police. Sensing trouble, the driver fled the scene on foot. The journey resumed only after the travel company arranged another driver from Bengaluru.

Passengers were stranded on the roadside for nearly two hours, and videos of the incident have since gone viral on social media.

Ahmad Sanobar, a passenger on the bus and a hotel owner from Bengaluru’s Koramangala, recounted the incident, saying, “On Monday, the bus was travelling from Kozhikode to Chennai via Bengaluru. I boarded at Sultan Bathery around 6 pm. Once we entered the Mysuru Expressway, the bus was swerving uncontrollably. It became clear that the driver was drunk, though he refused to admit it. I confronted him, and other passengers joined in. They also realised he was drunk, so we demanded that he stop the bus. Instead, he switched off the lights and sped up. He even threatened to drive the bus into a gorge and kill everyone.”

He continued, “Everyone was terrified. We waited to reach the next toll plaza. When we arrived, another passenger and I managed to restrain the driver and stop the bus by the roadside. We all got down immediately. The driver then escaped.”

Bharathi bus taken into custody

Amid the controversy, the Motor Vehicles Department (MVD) in Kozhikode has taken another bus belonging to the same company into custody.

The Bharathi Group bus, which operates services from Kozhikode to Chennai via Bengaluru, was seized on Thursday afternoon. During inspection, officials found that the tyres were excessively worn out and unfit for service, and the glass panel of the emergency exit door was broken. As a result, the MVD Enforcement Wing cancelled the bus’s fitness certificate.

Officials also noted that the bus had not paid the required Kerala motor vehicle tax. The Bharathi Group has been contacted, and the manager has been instructed to appear before authorities on Friday. The driver involved in the drunk-driving incident has also been asked to report, and action will be taken against him as well.