‘Killer bus’ driver’s medical records go ‘missing’

“A police team visited our house in Kauthali on the day when mishap took place. We told them about Santosh’s mental illness. Police have taken a file from our house which carried the documents about his mental health,” said the driver’s brother,Janak Mane. “Santosh was suffering from stress and mental illness for two years. He was also treated by a psychiatrist in Solapur. He told us that he had requested his seniors many times for short route buses,but was forced to drive buses on long routes. He was tense due to work,” he added.

ACP Rajendrasinh Mohite,the investigating officer,said,“One of our teams had gone to Solapur but the team did not go to Mane’s house. It is possible that a team from Solapur police visited the family. We will be sending our team to Kauthali soon.”

When contacted,Tushar Joshi,additional superintendent of police (Solapur rural) said,“On the day the incident took place in Pune,we got a call from the Pune police to verify the address and other details of Mane. So our team went to his village on the same day.” Asked whether Solapur police took any file from Mane’s family,Joshi said,“No. Our team just visited them for primary inquiry.”

On the other hand,Solapur-based psychiatrist Dr Dilip Burate,who claimed he had treated Mane,said he was ready to give the details of the driver’s psychiatric treatment as and when the investigating agencies approached him. “It is my duty to assist the investigation. I am ready to testify before the court.”