Alert KSRTC conductor catches two thieves who booked tickets in Airavata Club Class bus to repeat crime after four months

Four months ago, they had stolen ₹2.5-lakh worth gold and cash from the bag of a woman passenger and de-boarded the bus midway

Passengers travelling in Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) buses have to be extra vigilant about their belongings. Now, thieves book tickets in advance and travel in premier buses to steal valuables from passengers. 

In one such case, an alert conductor of the corporation, Ashok Jadav, managed to catch two thieves who had booked tickets on an Airavat Club Class bus and were observing the movements of other passengers after boarding the bus at Majestic bus stand. Interestingly, the same thieves had stolen gold valuables and cash from a passenger four months ago by travelling in a bus from Bengaluru to Mangaluru.

On August 7, 2022, a person who had occupied seat number of 27 of Airavat Club Class bus operated from Bengaluru to Mangalguru got down near Uppinangady in Dakshina Kannada after requesting the bus crew stop vehicle to attend the nature’s call around 5 a.m. After five minutes, another passenger who was travelling in seat number 28 too got down from the bus on the same pretext. The bus crew waited for 10 minutes, but both of them did not return.

The conductor, Mr. Jadav, tried to reach them by contacting their mobile numbers (displayed in the trip sheet of passengers who book tickets). When they did not return even after 15 minutes, the crew, passengers of the bus and local people searched nearby areas, but they were not traced. Later, the local police were informed about the incident. All the passengers were asked to check their luggage and the bus left the place after the passenger informed the crew that nothing was missing from their luggage.

However, around 10 a.m, one of the passengers, Lakshmi, called Mr. Jadav and informed him that gold worth ₹2.5 lakh and cash were missing from her bag. The conductor informed this to his higher-ups. He again called the passengers who had de-boarded the bus at Uppinangady, but there was no response. When officials checked the phone number of the passengers, it was found that two of them frequently travelled in club class buses by booking tickets on the online portal of the corporation. Later, a complaint was filed about the incident with the Bengaluru and Mangaluru police.

After four months, on November 12, around 9.45 p.m, Mr. Jadav, who was assigned duty for a bus operated on the same route, was checking the trip sheet when he noticed that two passengers who had occupied seat numbers 29 and 30 were observing the movements of other passengers. The conductor, who got suspicious, went near them. He then recalled that the two passengers were the same ones who had de-boarded the bus at Uppinangady four months ago.

After getting down from the bus, the conductor alerted his higher officials, who, in turn, alerted security staff of the bus stand. The two were then handed over to the Upparpet police.