A private bus that mowed down a teenager in Mukstar and another bus that yesterday crushed a 10-year-old girl near Makhu town belong to a transport company owned by SAD leader Hardeep Singh Dhillon, a Congress leader has alleged.
While a bus of New Deep Transport Co owned by Dhillon yesterday crushed to death a 10-year-old girl near Makhu on Amritsar-Zira highway, another bus of the same company had ran over a 13-year old girl in Channu village, chairman of Congress' Kisan Cell Inderjit Singh Zira alleged.
Both the incidents took place in Ferozepur district.
Dhillon, who is area incharge of Akali Dal from Gidderbaha constituency and the chairman of District Planning Committee, was unavailable for comments.
The drivers of both the buses have been arrested for negligent driving, police said.
A Dalit girl, Arshdeep Kaur, was standing by the side of a road when she ran her by a bus of Dhillon's company Friday last.
In another incident, Gurpreet Kaur, a resident of Dyalpura Village in Tarn Taran district, was yesterday crushed under a bus when she was standing along the road side, police said.
Protests by local residents and Congress workers followed both the incidents.
Congress workers led by Zira ghathered at the spot after yesterday's incident, raised slogan against the bus company and demanded that a case of "culpable homicide not amounting to murder" be registered against the driver.
Earlier on December 11, family members of the girl and villagers protested by keeping her body on the accident spot, demanding strict action against the driver and compensation.
A mob had even torched the bus, police said.
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal had expressed deep sorrow, describing it as an unfortunate incident and said that law will take its own course.
The state had in April witnessed widespread outrage over the alleged molestation and death of a minor girl in a moving bus owned by the Badal family.
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Traffic Adviser to the Punjab government Navdeep Asija
said that on an average 5,500 accident FIRs are registered in the state in a year while their actual number is much higher.
"The government ambulances ferry 30,000 seriously injured in accidents to hospitals every year. Another 30,000 are transported by communtiy ambulances," he said.
"This means around 55,000 accidents are going unreported and ending in compromises," Asija said.
