Robbed of His Dignity, Bus Conductor Leaps to His Death

Bengaluru: In a tragic incident an on duty KSRTC bus conductor jumped off a moving bus into the Kumaradhara river and committed suicide as he felt humiliated on being accused of theft by a commuter on the bus.

Devadas, 41 has been awarded the ‘best conductor award’ last year by KSRTC. His family and colleagues would naturally express shock at what he had been accused of by a passenger on the bus on Sunday.

A woman passenger accused the bus conductor of taking a 500 rupee note from her and returning the change for only Rs 100. Devadas maintained that she had given him only a 100 rupee note and not Rs 500 as claimed by her and therefore he gave her the change for it after deducting the bus fare.

This argument soon landed them in the Subrahmanya police station limits. After being counseled by the police the driver and conductor boarded the bus and journeyed on further. However miffed and humiliated at the incident Devadas blew his whistle for the bus to slow down while they were crossing the bridge over river Kumaradhara and suddenly jumped into it.

A devotee who was bathing at the ghat nearby made a vain bid to grab his hand as the river swollen due to heavy rainfall swiftly carried away Devadas’s body. According to eyewitnesses, Devadas raised his hands and folded them in salutation as he was drowning.

The police along with personnel from the fire department are searching for Devadas’ body. His family members, including his 18-year-old son, went to the spot. On the ticket log sheet, Devadas left behind a death note stating that it was better to die than to live without dignity.