Mumbai crime: School bus driver crushes dog, speeds away

School bus driver

A school bus driver crushed a stray dog under his vehicle and offered a callous excuse to a local animal lover, who witnessed the incident, before driving away from the spot.

Police plan to arrest this driver, who allegedly crushed a dog and drove away from the spot

However, the woman managed to click his picture with her mobile phone, after which the MIDC police in Andheri registered the case.

The incident allegedly occurred on Thursday in Andheri (East), when the 30-year-old was driving the school bus of a school in Santacruz. Around 7 am, the driver was ferrying the students to school. Natalia Andrews Pereira, an eyewitness to the incident, told mid-day, "I saw the incident. He crushed the poor dog, Sheru, in front of me. I stopped the bus and told the driver to take the dog to the hospital before it died, but he said it was ‘only' a dog and not a human."

Saying this, the driver sped away from the spot.

An alert Pereira, however, had managed to take pictures of the driver during the altercation. She took the animal to a hospital, but it died before it could be admitted.

An angry Pereira took to Facebook to vent her ire at the heartlessness of the driver. She also uploaded the photographs of the driver in question.

Salim Charania, president, Peace for Animals Welfare Association (PAWA), happened to come across the post. After collecting information, he went to the MIDC police in Andheri (East) and got the offence registered on Friday, May 1.

"We have registered the case under Sections 429 (mischief by killing or maiming cattle), 279 (rash driving) of the Indian Penal Code and under Section 11 (treating animals cruelly) of the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act. We are verifying the evidence and will arrest the bus driver," said a police officer from MIDC police station.