A 33-year-old driver of a state transport bus has been arrested for allegedly driving a Pune-Osmanabad bus under the influence of alcohol on his weekly off. The inebriated driver came to Shivajinagar bus depot and drove the bus full of passengers on Tuesday night, the police said. He rammed the bus into an autorickshaw near Shima Office Chowk in Shivajinagar. Passengers inside the bus somehow managed to make the driver stop the bus. On Wednesday, Jinnasrao Ovhal, assistant transport officer of Shivajinagar bus depot, lodged an offence in the case at Shivajinagar police station. The driver has been identified as Amol Vitthal Chole (33), a resident of Tadiwala road. He has been booked under IPC sections 363 (abduction), 427 (damage to property) and 511 (attempt to commit offence). Police said the Maharashtra state transport’s Shivashahi bus on Pune-Osmanabad route was set to leave from Shivajinagar bus depot. Its driver had gone to the control room for completing some paper work, when around 9.45 pm, Chole allegedly got behind the wheels and drove the bus full of passengers, said police.
