Pune:
Santosh Mane, a bus driver in Pune who stole a public bus and went on a rampage killing nine people and injuring nearly 30 others last year, has been given the death sentence by a Pune court. The court had found him guilty of murder last week.
Here are 10 big facts in this story:
After hijacking an empty bus, Mane, 39, drove the vehicle down the wrong side of some of Pune's busiest streets.
Mane had been a driver with the state transport corporation for 11 years.
His lawyers had argued that he should be acquitted because he is mentally unsound.
The judge last week rejected that defense outright, and said Mane's intent was clear: "to kill or cause grievous injuries."
The judge had said that Mane had asked officials to shorten his duty hours the night before he went on his rampage.
His request was refused because there was a shortage of drivers.
The next morning, he grabbed a bus whose driver had gone into the bus depot's office to collect some documents.
His crazed drive lasted nearly 45 minutes during morning rush hour. Eyewitnesses say they flung schoolchildren out of his way as he steered wildly through about 20 kilometres.
Traffic marshals had fired at the bus to force Mane to stop. But it took a college student to finally stop the bus driver. He managed to climb onto the bus and over-powered Mane.
The court last Wednesday said that Mane had been found guilty and penalised on two earlier occasions for rash and negligent driving.
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