A Pune court on Wednesday convicted a rogue driver of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC), who had on January 25, 2012 “hijacked” a State transport bus and gone on a rampage on the local roads, killing nine persons, injuring 30 others and ramming against at least 25 vehicles.
Delivering a much-awaited verdict in the sensational road rage case, Additional Sessions Judge VK Shewale held the rogue driver, Santosh Maruti Mane (40), guilty of offences registered against under Sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder and 324 and 326 (voluntarily causing hurt/grievous hurt by dangerous weapons or other means sections of Indian Penal Code (IPl).
On April 8, the judge will pronounce the sentence on Mane.
While convicting Mane for his heinous crime of mowing down nine hapless citizens and injuring 30-odd others, the judge rejected the defence lawyer’s plea that his client was suffering from insanity at the time of incident.
Upholding a fool-proof case made by the Prosecution against the rogue driver, the judge observed that Mane was in a mentally stable condition when he spirited away a State transport bus from a local depot and went on a manic driving spree on the Pune roads on the morning of January 25, 2012.
The police had filed a 270-page charge-sheet against Mane on April 20 last year.
Public prosecutor Ujjwala Pawar had in all examined 39 witnesses to establish that Mane was stable and in a sane and conscious State at the time of incident.
On his part, defence lawyer Dhananjay Mane had examined two witnesses — a psychiatrist from Solapur and a pharmacist, seeking to prove that his client was suffering from insanity at the time of incident.
The spine chilling drama had unfolded at 8.15 am on January 25, last year, after an off-duty driver spirited away an empty State transport bus (MH BT 1532) parked in Swargate bus depot, took it out of the depot and drove in an opposite one-way of the busy Pune--Solapur Road, mowing down pedestrians and smashing all kinds of vehicles that came in his way.
Having mowed down a pedestrian at the gate of the bus depot itself, Mane went on a frenzied driving spree during the next one hour that took him to various areas of Pune – including Golibar Maidan, East Street, Solapur Bazaar, Modi Khana, Kasewadi, Timber market, Sonmarg theatre, Good luck Chowk, Apsara theatre, laxminaryaan, Mitramandal and Sarasbaug chowks.
During his 20 km-road rampage, Mane rammed against at least 25 vehicles and either crushed or knocked down pedestrians at will. In all, nine persons were killed and at least 30 others injured in the nerve-wreaking incident.
Three days after the incident, Mane was admitted to a regional mental hospital at Yerwada in Pune, following an advice by the doctors who treated him at the state-run Sassoon Hospital.
Subsequent investigations revealed that he had undergone treatment for mental illness between February 19, 2010 and November 3, 2011. A psychiatrist Dr Dilip Barute had deposed in the court last week that Mane had been administered six shocks while he was undergoing treatment for mental illness at Solapur.