Ex-panchayat official assaults bus crew over ticket buying

Palanisamy (38), a resident of Navalpattu, is a TNSTC bus driver, and Muniandi (44) of Puthanatham is a conductor in the same bus.

Late on Tuesday, the crew was proceeding from Chathiram bus stand to Sooriyur. Around 11.30 pm, former Kanthalur panchayat chief Marimuthu along with his family members boarded the bus and his mother-in-law took the front seat, while Marimuthu was seated in the back. Marimuthu did not buy a ticket thinking that his mother-in-law would have bought it and vice versa.

When Muniandi asked them for tickets, they were about to get down at the Elanthapatti bus stop. Marimuthu got angry and called some people over the phone and started assaulting the conductor. On seeing this, the driver Palanisamy recorded the incident on his mobile phone. Soon, Marimuthu attacked the driver also.

Meanwhile, the information about the assault spread among the workers who assembled at the depot around 4 am and refused to operate buses. Around 6 am, officials held talks with the agitating workers and moved the buses after lodging a complaint against Marimuthu.