Three People Have Been Arrested For Kidnapping A Government Bus Conductor

A Manikandan (29) was working as a bus conductor on a bus travelling from Chidambaram to Vriddhachalam on Sunday evening when he and a passenger named S Bhavani of Ramachandranpettai got into a dispute, according to police. The woman allegedly notified her relative S Singaravel, a PMK member and Vriddhachalam municipality councillor for ward 27, about the event.

According to sources, Singaravel and his supporters waited at the Vriddhachalam bus stop and, when the bus arrived, took Manikandan out, attacked him, and smashed the bus windows. They carried him away in an autorickshaw following warning members of the public who attempted to help the conductor, even as other bus drivers and conductors fought to save him.

In protest, TNSTC bus drivers and conductors went on strike and blocked the Vriddhachalam to Ulundurpet route near the bus stop. They also stopped private buses from leaving the bus station, asking that the conductor be rescued right away.

While one team of police arrived on the scene and calmed the protesting workers, another team discovered Manikandan, who had been left on the wayside, and transported him to the Vriddhachalam Government Hospital for treatment. The three-hour road block was lifted after this was learned, but TNSTC employees refused to drive buses until the accused were apprehended.

After police informed them that three people had been arrested, they returned to duty around 10 p.m. Traffic on the Cuddalore, Salem, Ulundurpet, and Tiruchy highways from Vriddhachalam was disrupted due to the protests. At the Vriddhachalam bus station, several passengers waited up to four hours for bus service to restart.