Bihar native arrested after stabbing BMTC conductor in bus near ITPL in Bengaluru

BENGALURU: The Whitefield police have arrested a man hailing from Bihar for stabbing a BMTC bus conductor and causing damage to the vehicle near the ITPL bus stand on the ITPL-Banashankari route on Tuesday evening. The arrested has been identified as Harsha Sinha who had been recently fired from his job with a BPO.

The BMTC Volvo bus (KA-57 F-0015) was plyin on route 500 CK/13 between ITPL and Banashankari. The bus conductor Yogesh D C told Harsha Sinha not to stand near the door. Angered by this, Harsha pulled out a knife from his bag and stabbed the conductor.

Shocked to hear about the terrorising act of a passenger named Harsha Sinha stabbing a BMTC bus conductor during daylight hours in Bengaluru

Request @BlrCityPolice to book & arrest the assailant under terrorism charges for hijacking the bus, stabbing the conductor, threatening… pic.twitter.com/SXHpvwGEPR

— Karnataka Weather (@Bnglrweatherman) October 2, 2024

Harsha then threatened the other passengers to get off the bus, pulled out a hammer from his back and began breaking the windows, doors and windshield. He also kicked the glass windows and door panes.

The injured conductor was rushed to Vydehi Hospital where he is undergoing treatment. The BMTC on Wednesday denounced the attack and has extended full support to Yogesh’s family.

Bus driver Siddalingaswamy told Public TV that the bus was on its way from Kadugodi to Silk Board and Harsha boarded at the bus stop near the rear entrance of ITPL from the front door. The driver then asked Harsha Sinha to move inside as he was blocking the rear view mirro.

“After two stops, when the bus neared Vydehi Hospital, the conductor shouted to close the door. When I turned around, Harsha had stabbed Yogesh. I got off the driver’s seat and came to the rear when Harsha tried to attack me with a hammer. With the help of other passengers, we opened the rear door, got the conductor out and rushed him to hospital. Since the doors were locked, he broke the windows to escape”, Siddalingaswamy said.

BMTC managing director G T Prabhakar, driver Siddalingaswamy and others at the Vydehi Hospital on Wednesday where the conductor Yogesh is undergoing treatment.

BMTC managing director G T Prabhakar said the bus crew did not create any trouble for the passengers. “The conductor told the accused not to stand near the door and to go inside, which led to incident. Till the conductor recovers and returns to duty, we will pay his salary”, he said.

Harsha Sinha was working with Teleperformance SE, a French multinational business process outsourcing (BPO) company and had been fired recently. After not finding jobs anywhere else, he had planned to approach his boss to reinstate him and if not, he had decided to stab the boss, police said.