Lucknow: Police probing the fatal bus accident on the Purvanchal Expressway in Lucknow on Feb 23 uncovered an illegal ownership trail, with multiple off-record sales and no corresponding changes in registration documents.Investigators said the bus was originally owned by Pradeep Kumar, who allegedly sold it to Subhash. The vehicle was then sold to Mukesh Kumar, a resident of Haryana, without updating the Registration Certificate, violating transport norms. A 6-member police team was formed to arrest the owner as per registration, Pradeep Kumar, and then Subhash and Mukesh. Police officials said it was a violation of law to use any commercial vehicle without proper registration, which ought to reflect the current owner if changes took place. A police source privy to the probe revealed that the cleaner who fled on the fateful day of the accident, in which five passengers were killed and 41 others were injured, was identified as Aniket, and teams found his last location in Himachal Pradesh. An FIR was registered at Gosainiganj police station under charges of BNS 105 (culpable homicide) against the driver, based on a complaint filed by Sulekha Devi of Bihar, who was travelling with her three children from Punjab to Darbhanga in Bihar. The bus had 80 to 90 passengers onboard. According to the FIR, the driver was drunk and drove in a rash and negligent manner.
