The driver of a private tour bus that caused a fatal crash in Kerala’s Palakkad on Wednesday, October 5, was arrested near Kollam on Thursday on charges of homicide. Jomon Pathrose aka Jojo, who was absconding since the accident, was reportedly on his way to Thiruvananthapuram when police took him into custody, along with two other accomplices who were said to have helped Jomon escape. On Wednesday, the bus driven by Jomon — which was carrying 42 school children on a tour to Ooty — crashed into a Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) bus, resulting in the death of nine people including five children.
The investigation of the accident has been taken over by Alathur Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP). Jomon has been booked under section 304 (culpable homicide) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The Alathur DySP told TNM that Jomon has previously been booked for cases of negligent driving and drunk driving, including one in Andhra Pradesh. Officials of the Motor Vehicle Department (MVD) had on Thursday informed the media that Jomon has had five cases registered against him previously, and that he was booked for drunken driving in 2018 by the Koothattukulam police.
After he was apprehended, police took Jomon’s blood samples to ascertain whether he was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the accident. The sample is reported to have been sent to a lab in Kakkanad. Jomon will be produced in court on Friday, Vadakkanchery police informed TNM.
The owner of the private tour bus has also been booked for flouting bus permit conditions and installing illegal light and horn systems on the bus. The bus’s speed governor was allegedly found detached at the time of inspection. The owner also allegedly did not intervene to prevent Jomon’s speeding despite being alerted twice about the same.
The vehicles involved in the fatal accident were a KSRTC bus running from Kottarakkara to Coimbatore and the tourist bus, taking students from the BaseliosVidyanikethan Senior Secondary School in Ernakulam’s Mulanthuruthy to Ooty. The tourist bus was allegedly overtaking a car when it lost control and rammed into the rear end of the KSRTC bus. Five students, a teacher, and three passengers of the KSRTC bus were killed.