Delhi's Blueline claims second victim in three days

NEW DELHI: A Blueline bus knocked down a man in west Delhi on Monday, making him the second victim of the capital's privately operated buses this year.

The bus, plying on route No. 817 between Najafgarh and Inderlok, crushed a man in his 30s near the Nawada metro station in Bindapur area at 7.30 a.m.
      
Police said the unidentified man came under the wheels of the speeding bus while crossing the road. He was taken to Deen Dayal Upadhyaya hospital where the doctors declared him dead.

"We have registered a case of rash and negligent driving against bus driver Dilip and he has been arrested," said Ranjeet Singh, officer in charge of the Bindapur police station.

The 4,000-odd Blueline bus fleet, which forms a crucial part of Delhi's public transport system, has earned public ire for the recklessness of its drivers and owners but officials say they are helpless to check the menace.

In 2007, the Blueline buses had claimed 120 lives. They claimed the first victim of 2008 Saturday when a man was crushed to death in east Delhi.