Panvel (Maharashtra), Aug 21 (Inditop.com) A day after a school bus caught fire injuring 22 students in Panvel town in Maharashtra’s Raigad district, a city court remanded the driver to three days police custody. Two students are in critical condition, police said Friday.
Meanwhile, authorities at the CKT High School decided to shut the school for two days (Thursday and Friday), said school principal N.M. Jadhav.
“Moreover, from tomorrow till Aug 31, there will be the regular Ganeshotsav holiday, so we took the decision to close the school for the last two days prior to the break. It will help students recover from effects of the incident,” he told IANS.
Panvel Police Inspector Ahmed Pathan said the vehicle driver-cum-owner Vishwas Maruti Phadtare and his cleaner Anil Yadav, who were arrested Thursday on various charges, were remanded to custody till Aug 24.
Earlier, the police had also detained for questioning Phadtare’s business partner, Hanumant Nalavade, in the matter.
Pathan said that a team of forensic experts and the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) also visited the bus.
“The forensic report will be received by month-end which will throw light on the exact cause of the blaze after which we shall do the needful,” he said.
Meanwhile, following yesterday’s incident, the Navi Mumbai RTA has opened five centres to inspect all the school buses – private, contracted and those managed by school authorities – for which it has opened five centres in the region.
