A thirty-five-year-old driver employed with the Brihanmumbai Electricity and Transport (BEST) undertaking allegedly consumed pesticide before attacking two colleagues with a sickle at the Mumbai Central bus depot on Friday. While the BEST said he was unhappy for being allotted a route without his usual conductor, his family alleged he was being harassed by the two colleagues. All three are being treated at Nair Hospital. According to police, the suspect, Shankar Mane, has been with the BEST for five years. “BEST employees Dilip Dongre (55) and Ratan Shedge (53) are responsible for allotting routes to drivers daily. On Friday, Mane wasn’t happy to be asked to drive on a route without his friend,” said Nandkumar Mhetar, senior inspector, Nagpada police station. Mane got into an argument with Dongre and Shedge and stormed out, only to return three hours later with a 100-ml bottle of a pesticide called Cherish. “He went to the canteen on the first floor of the depot, poured the pesticide into a glass and drank it. He then went downstairs, hiding a sickle under his shirt, and attacked the duo,” he said. Two BEST security officers rushed to the spot and grabbed Mane. Police were called and the three were rushed to Nair Hospital. The police said while Dongre and Shedge were out of danger, Mane was critical and in the ICU. Mane has been booked for attempt to murder and suicide bid. He lived with his family at the BEST staff quarters in Chandivali. BEST’s deputy public relations officer Manoj Varade said a departmental inquiry would be conducted once they were out of the hospital and action would be taken.
