‘Minister’s flying squad reported 119 cases of ticket & diesel theft’

CHANDIGARH: The ‘Minister’s flying squad,’ formed with the aim of curbing irregularities in public bus services, has reported 119 cases within five months of its inception. These cases include ticket theft, diesel pilfering, plying buses on unscheduled routes and cases related to mobile usage while driving.

Divulging further details, Transport Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar said that with the objective of preventing ticket theft and ensuring the implementation of standardised timetable for bus operations at bus stands, the Minister’s flying squad was constituted on May 16, and during this period, public bus services have significantly improved through effective monitoring and checking.

He said that so far, the flying squad has reported 119 cases, which include 22 cases of ticket theft by conductors and 9 cases of diesel pilfering by drivers besides reporting 2 cases of financial losses to the department. Apart from this, 44 cases of plying buses on fly-overs instead of scheduled beneath-routes and 22 cases of taking buses through bypass have been reported. Similarly, one each case of mobile usage during driving, stopping buses at unauthorised dhaba, absence from duty and plying buses without passengers have also been reported, while fines have been imposed to passengers in 16 cases.