A court in Kerala has sentenced a KSRTC driver to three years in prison and imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 for the death of two scooter riders who were struck while waiting at a traffic signal in Aluva in 2018.
Paravur Principal Assistant Sessions Judge Vincy Ann Peter Joseph sentenced A.K. Unni, a driver attached to the Mala KSRTC depot. The victims, Cherai residents Arjun K. Shaji and Abhishek, died after the KSRTC bus hit them at Thottakkattukara junction in Aluva on August 10, 2018.
According to the case reported by Malayala Manorama, the bus was travelling at excessive speed when it struck the two scooter riders waiting at the signal. The collision took place at a major urban junction, where the movement of buses, two-wheelers and other road users converges around traffic-control infrastructure.
The case was registered by K.T. Muhammad Kabir, sub-inspector of the Aluva Traffic Unit. The investigation was conducted by Vishal Johnson, who was serving as station house officer of the Aluva East police station at the time. Police subsequently submitted the charge sheet before the court.
The prosecution was represented by Additional Public Prosecutor Advocate Deepa Manoj. The court’s sentence follows the completion of the police investigation and trial into the crash, which killed both scooter riders at the junction.
The case places the safety of signalised urban intersections at the centre of a criminal proceeding involving a public transport vehicle. Such junctions depend on drivers complying with speed and traffic controls while pedestrians, cyclists and two-wheeler riders wait in exposed positions alongside moving traffic.
The court has now ordered the three-year prison sentence and Rs 10,000 fine against the driver. The ruling is the latest formal development in a case arising from the 2018 crash and concludes the trial-stage sentencing reported by the newspaper.
