The driver of the BEST bus, involved in the last year’s Bhandup crash, took the vehicle despite it being not allotted to him, as per the chargesheet filed by the Mumbai Police.
The chargesheet does not provide specific records of electric bus training received by the driver, Santosh Sawant.
The accident, which occurred outside Bhandup railway station on December 29, 2025, claimed four lives and left 12 injured. According to the chargesheet, Sawant had completed one round of duty on the bus and the crash took place as he began his second round.
Statements of another driver and a conductor reveal that bus number 715 on route 606, which was involved in the accident, had originally been allotted to them. After completing one round, Sawant allegedly approached them claiming the in-charge had reassigned the bus to him. They handed over bus 715 and took another vehicle to continue duty.
“When we later asked the in-charge why our bus was changed, he told us that Sawant had been told to take bus number 719 but had taken 715 on his own,” one of them said in his statement. He added that he had driven the bus for a full round without noticing any technical fault and that Sawant too had completed one round before the crash.
After his arrest, Sawant told police that the bus was in drive (D) mode when handed over to him and that the neutral gear was not functioning. He claimed that when he released the handbrake, the bus veered left and the brakes failed. According to him, he steered the vehicle towards the bus chowki to avoid hitting pedestrians on the busy road.
However, the conductor, in his statement, said Sawant started the bus four to five minutes after taking the driver’s seat and then drove “at full speed”.
“I lost my balance and fell inside the bus,” he said, adding that the bus eventually halted and Sawant ran towards the bus chowki. The conductor said he saw injured persons lying around the bus and others being pulled from underneath. Fearing the crowd, he ran towards the chowki and later to the railway station washroom before taking a local train to Vikhroli and reporting the incident at the Vikhroli depot’s traffic control room.
The chargesheet also includes statements from two firms that supply the electric buses, stating that bus 715 was serviced on December 24, 2025 and certified fit for road use the next day.
A BEST official told police that drivers undergo mandatory training at the Dindoshi training centre along with periodic refresher courses.
However, apart from details of Sawant joining BEST in 2011 after passing a driving test in 2008, the chargesheet does not provide specific records of his electric bus training.
A training list for Olectra buses attached to the chargesheet carries Sawant’s badge number but not his signature against serial number 126. His lawyer, Devendra Patil, alleged irregularities in the training process.
“This shows he was not trained in 2025 and that others were trained only for a single day. After a similar accident in Kurla last year, a 21-day training was mandated. This document suggests that has not been followed,” Patil said.
He further pointed out that while the prosecution had opposed bail by claiming drivers listen to music while driving, the chargesheet contains no such allegation.
Statements of another driver and a conductor reveal that bus number 715 on route 606, which was involved in the accident, had originally been allotted to them (File Photo) 
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