india

Updated: May 02, 2019 23:49 IST

The Hyderabad police on Thursday arrested a constable belonging to Andhra Pradesh who opened fire in a crowded state-run road transport corporation bus following an argument with co-passengers earlier in the day.

The accused was identified as R Srinivas, who belongs to the security wing of the AP state intelligence department and is presently working as a gunman for a VIP in Hyderabad.

The task force police identified the accused through the video footage obtained from the closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras and took him into custody at his residence in Kukatpalli on the outskirts of the city. At the same time, the Telangana police also informed their Andhra Pradesh counterparts.

AP Director General of Police R P Thakur told reporters that he would get the matter investigated and take appropriate action. “Firing in public places is a big crime. We have just received information from the Telangana police and we will investigate the circumstances that led to the constable losing his cool and fire in the crowded bus. There is absolutely no work pressure on our police personnel,” he said.

The incident happened at around 10.45 am in the bus (registration number AP 28Z 4468) run by the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) between Secunderabad and Manikonda via Film Nagar (Route No. 47L).

According to eye-witness accounts, the bus was already overcrowded with office-goers. “A person wearing a safari suit was standing near the footboard of the rear entry door blocking the way of other passengers, who were boarding the bus at Punjagutta bus stand. When one of the passengers asked him to either get down or move inside to facilitate other passengers to get into the bus, he picked up an argument with him,” the eye-witness said.

When others also started questioning the passenger, he got angry and suddenly took out his revolver from his pocket and fired in the air, before getting down from the running bus and escaping. The bullet pierced through the roof of the bus, the eye-witness said.

Bus driver, Yakub Basha, drove the bus without stopping anywhere for a few kilometres. Later, he and conductor Bhupathi asked the passengers to get down and took the bus to the Secunderabad Cantonment depot, where they reported the matter.

They went to the Panjagutta police station to lodge a formal complaint. Based on the complaint, the police took up the investigation and after going through the CCTV camera footage, they identified the person as Srinivas, a constable from the Andhra Police.