Odisha’s Athmallick bus tragedy: Driver contradicts probe report

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Angul, Sep 12:

While the four-member panel constituted to probe the Athmallick bus tragedy in which 19 lives were lost and 50 others were injured had in its preliminary inquiry report stated that the accident was caused due to reckless driving and the bus driver talking over cellphone, Birendra Behera-the driver of the ill-fated bus ‘Maharaja’ who was arrested yesterday has refuted the charge and said that the accident was caused due to a fault in the vehicle’s steering wheel.

“I wasn’t speaking over mobile phone nor was I overspeeding. The accident was caused due to a fault in the steering wheel of the vehicle,” said Birendra Behera, the driver of the ill-fated bus.