Andhra Pradesh police on Sunday confirmed that the two bike-borne persons connected to the Bengaluru-bound bus fire accident, which claimed the lives of 19 passengers, were drunk.
In the wee hours of October 24, the sleeper bus ran over a two-wheeler, which had already met in an accident, at Chinna Tekuru village in Kurnool district.
There were 44 passengers on the bus and several managed to escape.
Commenting on the incident, Hyderabad Police Commissoner V.C. Sajjanar said, "Drunk drivers are terrorists. Period. Drunk drivers are terrorists and their actions are nothing short of acts of terror on our roads. The horrific #Kurnool bus accident, which claimed the lives of 20 innocent people, was not an accident in the truest sense. It was a preventable massacre, caused by the reckless and irresponsible behaviour of an intoxicated biker."
"This was not a road mishap but a criminal act of negligence that annihilated entire families within seconds. The biker, identified as B. Shiva Shankar, was under the influence of alcohol. CCTV footage shows him refueling his motorcycle at 2:24 a.m., minutes before he lost control and caused the devastating collision at 2:39 a.m. His decision to drive drunk turned a moment of arrogance into a tragedy of unimaginable scale," added Sajjanar.
"It’s time we, as a society, stop calling drunk driving a mistake. It is a crime that shatters lives and must be punished accordingly," said Sajjanar.
In the wee hours of Friday, the sleeper bus from Hyderabad to Bengaluru ran over a two-wheeler, which had already met with an accident, at Chinna Tekuru village in Kurnool district, resulting in the eruption of a raging fire which burned 20 passengers to death.
Further, Kurnool collector A Siri said the DNA profiling of victims will take 48 hours and is expected to be completed by October 27.
Samples from 19 bodies were collected and sent to the Forensic Sciences Laboratory in Vijayawada.
According to the official, bodies were completely charred beyond recognition and without doing DNA profiling their identity cannot be established correctly.
In the wee hours of October 24, the sleeper bus ran over a two-wheeler, which had already met in an accident, at Chinna Tekuru village in Kurnool district.
There were 44 passengers on the bus and several managed to escape.
Commenting on the incident, Hyderabad Police Commissoner V.C. Sajjanar said, "Drunk drivers are terrorists. Period. Drunk drivers are terrorists and their actions are nothing short of acts of terror on our roads. The horrific #Kurnool bus accident, which claimed the lives of 20 innocent people, was not an accident in the truest sense. It was a preventable massacre, caused by the reckless and irresponsible behaviour of an intoxicated biker."
"This was not a road mishap but a criminal act of negligence that annihilated entire families within seconds. The biker, identified as B. Shiva Shankar, was under the influence of alcohol. CCTV footage shows him refueling his motorcycle at 2:24 a.m., minutes before he lost control and caused the devastating collision at 2:39 a.m. His decision to drive drunk turned a moment of arrogance into a tragedy of unimaginable scale," added Sajjanar.
"It’s time we, as a society, stop calling drunk driving a mistake. It is a crime that shatters lives and must be punished accordingly," said Sajjanar.
In the wee hours of Friday, the sleeper bus from Hyderabad to Bengaluru ran over a two-wheeler, which had already met with an accident, at Chinna Tekuru village in Kurnool district, resulting in the eruption of a raging fire which burned 20 passengers to death.
Further, Kurnool collector A Siri said the DNA profiling of victims will take 48 hours and is expected to be completed by October 27.
Samples from 19 bodies were collected and sent to the Forensic Sciences Laboratory in Vijayawada.
According to the official, bodies were completely charred beyond recognition and without doing DNA profiling their identity cannot be established correctly.
