On a day when Union Minister Gopinath Munde died in a road accident, the District Court in Dehradun on Tuesday sentenced Uttarkashi resident and tourist bus driver Rakesh Kunwar to 10 years imprisonment with Rs 1 lakh fine for causing a road accident that killed 22 persons and left 23 persons injured on January 5, 2011 at Kuthal Gate on Mussoorie Road. Though Kunwar had escaped from the accident site, he was arrested a day after the accident.
In 2011, a Haridwar based businessman had hired a tourist bus to Mussoorie. While returning from Mussoorie towards Dehradun, the driver Rakesh had an argument with the businessman on some issue and jumped out of the moving bus which had then fallen off the road down the hillside. The much awaited verdict in the case was delivered on Tuesday. The court of District Judge Ram Singh held Rakesh Kunwar guilty and sentenced him to 10 years imprisonment and Rs 1 lakh fine.