UPSRTC Bus Driver and Assistant Suspended for Halting Bus to Allow Namaz by Passengers

New Delhi: A driver and a co-driver of UP State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) were suspended for halting the Delhi-bound ‘Janrath’ AC bus for a “few extra minutes” to allow two passengers to offer ‘namaz’.

The incident took place on Sunday night. The said UPSRTC bus had started from Bareilly at around 9 pm.  It made an unscheduled halt on National Highway-24 in Milak area of Rampur district allegedly to allow two co-passengers to offer namaz. It was protested by other passengers. One of them shot a video and uploaded it on Twitter with a complaint.

After receiving the complaint, assistant regional manager (ARM) of UPSRTC in Bareilly, suspended driver of the bus KP Singh and its co-driver Mohit Yadav.

The driver claimed that the bus was halted as some passengers wanted to use a roadside toilet. Then two other passengers requested to offer ‘namaz’ and he agreed to halt the bus for five more minutes for them.

The co-driver said, “We don’t think that they have done anything wrong by offering prayers. We will fight against our suspension.”

Meanwhile, the employee welfare association has backed the two suspended staff.