Irked auto driver runs after stealing bus keys, arrested

The menace of auto-rickshaw drivers to harass passengers reached a whole new level when a driver ran away after snatching keys of a state-run bus in the peak hours of Monday evening.

The auto-rickshaw driver took away the keys of the bus leaving it stranded at Lake Market area with packed passengers. The reason being two women having left his vehicle to board the bus to reach their destination at a much cheaper fare.

Police said that the women boarded the auto-rickshaw of the Behala-Parnashree route from Behala. The driver was waiting to get two more passengers when the state-run bus on the same route was passing by the auto-rickshaw.

As the women were in a hurry, they left the auto-rickshaw which was waiting for two more passengers and boarded the bus. This was mainly to reach their preferred destination on time at a cheaper cost.

The women left the auto-rickshaw despite the driver asking them to just wait for one more minute. It left the auto-rickshaw driver agitated and he started following the bus which was on the Salt Lake-Parnashree route.

After chasing the bus for around one kilometre, he overtook and stopped his vehicle in front of it.

Commuters travelling in the bus couldn't understand what went wrong. Suddenly, they witnessed a heated argument between the drivers. The conductor too, got involved in it.

The auto-rickshaw driver all of a sudden got into the cabin of the bus driver and took out the keys. The situation worsened when the passengers started shouting from inside the bus as they were in a hurry while the auto-rickshaw driver ran away with the keys.

However, some locals along with the driver and the conductor of the bus of West Bengal Transport Corporation chased the accused auto-rickshaw driver and caught him. He was later handed over to the police.