- The sleeper bus had over 60 traffic fines, with more than 20 unpaid totaling Rs 1.7 lakh
- The latest fine was Rs 18,500 for carrying goods on top, issued on August 19 in Delhi
- The driver and conductor were arrested following the fire on Yamuna Expressway near Jewar
A sleeper bus that caught fire after its air-conditioning exploded, killing nine passengers, in Greater Noida has a total of over 60 fines for many types of traffic rule violations. Out of this, over 20 are yet to be paid, records on vehicle information websites showed.
A total of over Rs 1.7 lakh is yet to be paid for the challans of the bus with the registration number 'BR32PA8647'. BR is the government's official acronym for Bihar for use in issuing vehicle number plates.
The most recent challan or fine for traffic rules violation got triggered on August 19 in Delhi's Mayur Vihar, along the border with Noida in Uttar Pradesh.
The challan was of Rs 18,500 for the offence of "carrying goods on top in stage and contact carriage". This traffic rule violation appears the most frequent in the list of challans against the vehicle that caught fire.
The driver and the conductor have been arrested in connection with the accident that happened on Yamuna Expressway, close to the new airport in Greater Noida's Jewar. The bus was coming from Delhi's Kashmiri Gate.
The police said the injured passengers told them that they detected the smell of something burning from the driver's cabin and alerted him and the conductor. But the driver did not stop immediately and instead, continued smoking a cigarette inside the cabin, the police said.
The first information report (FIR) said that moments later the area near the driver's seat began burning and the fire spread fast.
Firefighters said they found nine bodies inside the bus.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has announced an aid of Rs 2 lakh each for the families of those who died and Rs 50,000 each for the injured.
