Jammu Bus Accident: Six Transport Department Officials Suspended
PTK NEWS DESK
JAMMU, May 31: In the wake of a devastating bus accident that claimed 22 lives and injured 64 others, six transport department officials in Jammu and Kashmir were suspended on Friday for alleged dereliction of duty. The tragic accident occurred on Thursday when a bus carrying 86 devotees from Haryana’s Kurukshetra to the Shiv Khori shrine in Reasi district skidded off the Jammu-Poonch highway and plunged into a 150-foot gorge. The driver lost control while navigating a blind curve at Tungi Morh in the Chowki Chora area.
Transport department Secretary Niraj Kumar issued the suspension orders following a high-level meeting chaired by Principal Secretary of the Home Department, Chandraker Bharti. According to top sources, Kumar stated, “Pending inquiry into the conduct and dereliction of duties, officials posted in the Regional Transport Office in Kathua (Lakhanpur) are placed under suspension with immediate effect and are attached to the office of the Transport Commissioner, Jammu.”
The suspended officials include Ranjeev Bhasin (motor vehicle inspector), Sumit Magotra (junior assistant), and multi-tasking staff members Ashwani Kumar, Aman Kumar, Keshav Singh, and Rakesh Kumar. Additional Secretary (Technical) Paramvir Singh will lead the inquiry into their conduct and performance, with a report and recommendations expected within a week. The officials will remain attached to the transport commissioner’s office in Jammu until the inquiry concludes.
A magisterial inquiry into the incident has already been initiated by the Jammu district magistrate, with the report expected within seven days. The district administration is closely monitoring the treatment of those injured and maintaining communication with authorities in the passengers’ home regions of Hathras and Aligarh in Uttar Pradesh.
Deputy Commissioner of Jammu Sachin Kumar confirmed that the injured are receiving treatment at the Government Medical College (GMC) hospital. The Jammu administration established a 24-hour helpline on Thursday to assist the relatives of the victims. Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha announced an ex-gratia payment of Rs 5 lakh for the next of kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for those injured.
Eyewitness accounts from some injured passengers suggest the accident occurred when the driver was negotiating a blind curve and a speeding car approached from the opposite direction. However, other passengers have blamed the driver for overloading the vehicle.
This accident is the deadliest in the region since a similar incident on November 15, 2023, in Doda district, where a bus skidded off the road and fell into a 300-foot gorge, killing 39 people and injuring 19.
