Regional Transport Officer (RTO) of Panna district Aniruddh Singh, who was suspended after 21 persons were killed in a bus accident, has been reinstated just after a month of suspension. Suspended by Transport Minister Bhupendra Singh, the officer has been reinstated even when the magisterial enquiry is still on in the incident. The guilty officer Aniruddh Singh has been handed over the charge of RTO of Rewa division.
As many as 21 passengers were charred to death and 13 injured, when a bus on way to Satna fell off a bridge and caught fire near Pandav Falls, about 10 km from Panna town on May 4. During preliminary investigation, it was found that there were some lacunae in providing permits to the faulty buses and thus Satna RTO Aniruddh Singh was suspended. To investigate the case, Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan had ordered magisterial enquiry.
The role of bus owner Gyanendra Pandey was also being investigated in the magisterial probe. However, before the enquiry report could come, the RTO was not only reinstated, but given plum posting as in-charge of Rewa division. This responsibility is greater than Satna in terms of administrative area. Speaking on the case, Bhupendra Singh said that in the investigation conducted so far, it has been found that the RTO had nothing to do with the incident. The owner of the bus is Gyanendra Pandey, who is the president of Nagaud tehsil mandal of the BJP.