Maharashtra Bus Strike: Driver Returns To Work, Colleague Hurls Stone

A Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation driver attached to the undertaking's Kalyan depot in Thane district was arrested for allegedly throwing a stone at one of its buses, police said on Sunday.

MSRTC staffers have been on strike since October 28 and bus operations across its 250 depots statewide have been affected from November 9, though friction is being witnessed among employees of late as some of them have begun to break ranks and return to work.

A police official said Saturday's stone pelting incident was also the result of this friction among staffers.

"One driver returned to work on the Kalyan-Bhiwandi route on Saturday afternoon, which angered his colleague Vitthal Kehdkar, who threw a stone at the former's bus in Kongaon area. The glass of the vehicle was damaged, though no one was injured," the official said.

Mr Kehdkar was charged under IPC and Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act provisions for using criminal force to deter a public servant from carrying out his duties and endangering human life through a rash and negligent act, he said.

Staffers of the loss-making MSRTC have been demanding its merger with the state government, which will give employees better salaries and greater job security.

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