The car (left) which was rammed by the Kallada Travels bus (right)

Thiruvananthapuram: Police arrested the driver of a Kallada Travels bus after the vehicle driven by him in an inebriated condition rammed into a car at Kazhakkoottam here on Monday evening.

Police arrested Krishnankutty (47) of Elavancherry in Palakkad. The accident took place at 6.30 pm on the service road opposite to IT park. The unauthorised bus service was from Thiruvananthapuram to Bengaluru. At Kazhakkoottam, the bus rammed into a car plying ahead.

Following the accident, the car driver and passengers stopped the bus and spoke to the driver. They soon realised that he was in an inebriated condition and alerted the police.

Kazhakkoottam police took the bus driver into custody and then subjected him to a medical check. On learning that he was in an inebriated condition, police registered a case. There were only five passengers inside the bus. The bus was taken to the police station.

It must be noted that the arrested bus driver was supposed to drive the vehicle overnight for over 13 hours.

There had been numerous complaints against private bus operators including Kallada Travels earlier. Bus employees were arrested for beating up and trying to molest passengers. There were complaints regarding drivers of such vehicles being in an inebriated condition.

The motor vehicles department had been holding vehicle checks named operation night riders to prevent unauthorised services by private bus operators. The operation was a huge success but were stopped recently.