Bus involved in UP teen gang rape case was fined 12 times for traffic violations in 3 months
Mathura, Sep 7 (PTI) The private sleeper bus in which a driver and conductor allegedly gang-raped a 16-year-old student travelling from Greater Noida was registered in Firozabad in April this year and was fined 12 times for traffic violations within just three months, police said on Monday.
Of these violations, nine were recorded on the Yamuna Expressway in Mathura district, mostly for overspeeding, they said.
The gang rape -- which brought back painful memories of the 2012 'Nirbhaya' case -- took place on August 4, when the girl got onto a bus to go to Noida Sector 63, in the bus bearing registration number UP 83 ET 3789. After the crime, she was abandoned near Kashmere Gate in Delhi.
The girl subsequently lodged a complaint at the Kashmere Gate police station in Delhi, following which the bus was seized, and its driver, Kuldeep (39) and conductor Sandeep (26), both residents of Kanpur, were arrested, police said.
Additional Superintendent of Police (Rural) Suresh Chandra Rawat said a preliminary investigation into the bus's record revealed repeated violations of traffic rules.
The bus was registered in Firozabad on April 28, 2026, and was fined a dozen times in the following three months, with nine of the challans issued in Mathura, he said.
According to police records, the first challan was issued on May 11 in Hamirpur for illegal parking. The following day, it was fined Rs 4,000 for overspeeding in Mathura through the Intelligent Traffic Management System (ITMS), Rawat said.
On June 23, it was again fined for allegedly picking up passengers illegally on the Yamuna Expressway, he added.
The violations continued, with the bus being fined for overspeeding on the expressway for six consecutive days in July. Each challan carried a penalty of Rs 4,000, resulting in a total fine of Rs 24,000 during the six-day period.
Police said that on July 8, the Assistant Regional Transport Officer (ARTO) imposed a total fine of Rs 26,000 for operating without a permit, not having reflector tape and other deficiencies.
The bus was again fined for overspeeding on the Yamuna Expressway in the Mathura area on July 11 and July 12, Rawat said.
"In just three months, the vehicle violated traffic rules 12 times, resulting in fines amounting to Rs 63,000," he said.
Rawat said CCTV footage and other data from cameras installed along the expressway have been preserved and can be made available to assist the investigation.
The data could help investigators determine the speed at which the bus was being driven, where it stopped and from where it picked up passengers, he added.
NATIONAL MATHURA/LUCKNOW
