Bus involved in Deogarh mishap did not have fitness certificate!

Bhubaneswar: The ill-fated bus of Deogarh bearing registration number OR 05 AB 9535 that met with an accident killing 27 passengers last evening did not have fitness certificate, Cuttack Motor Vehicle Inspector (MVI) Rashmi Ranjit Dalabehera revealed on Monday.

“As the vehicle was registered under the Cuttack RTO, a demand notice was served to the owner of the bus following expiry of its fitness on April 24, 2013. However, the owner of the bus Tapan Kumar Mohanty, a resident of Nimeisapur Dighi in Cuttack Sadar, did not bother to respond,” the Cuttack MVI said.

A show-cause notice will be issued to Mohanty today and strict action will be taken against the owner of the bus, Dalabehera added.

Diptiranjan Patra, Cuttack Regional Transport Officer (RTO), said, “After an examination, we found the bus did not have fitness and had intimated the owner of the vehicle by post asking him to renew the same in August 2015. Besides, a tax recovery case was registered against him. As the owner of the bus did not renew the fitness, we will consult our Law officer and take proper action against him.”

Patra added, “Fitness is the responsibility of the bus owner. We will serve another notice to Mohanty today after consulting our higher-ups.”

Meanwhile, Transport minister Ramesh Majhi said, “I have sought a report from the Deogarh RTO about documents of the bus and driving license and under what circumstances the accident occurred.”

Majhi emphatically added, “We will enforce the law by the RTOs to avoid such incidents in future.”