The driver has been booked under Sections 302 (murder), 307 (attempt to murder), 326 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt), 324 (voluntarily causing hurt), and 381 (theft) of the Indian Penal Code along with various offences pertaining to damage of public property.
On Thursday, a visibly relaxed Mane was produced in the court of Judicial Magistrate VB Borha. Putting the prosecution forward, district Government pleader Ujwala Pawar, while arguing that Mane’s crime required in-depth investigation into his professional and personal life, demanded a police remand for 14 days. Mane, however, was remanded to police custody till February 3 only.
The driver faced ire from members of the Pune Bar Association after none of the lawyers came forward to be his defence attorney. According to members of the PBA, the decision of not representing Mane was taken unanimously as nobody wanted to shield a “monster” that killed their people.
Meanwhile, authorities at MSRTC refuted claims being made by Mane’s family members that he had sought to resign from service on grounds of ill mental health.
Speaking to the media, RC Patil, regional manager, Swargate Bus depot (Pune), said that Mane was in perfect health and nobody, including his colleagues, had seen him suffering from any kind of mental illness.
Mane’s younger brother Shivshankar had gone on record saying that around two years ago, Mane suffered from psychological disorder for which he had undergone treatment from a doctor at Solapur.
He even submitted his resignation to higher authorities stating that his mental health did not permit him to drive on long trips.
Patil, however, said that the Corporation had no record of Mane’s mental health condition with it. “There was no provision to check an employee’s mental health status in the organisation. Once the driver crosses 40 years of age, we regularly check his eyesight, but there is no provision in MSRTC to check his mental state or find out if he is suffering from psychological disorders,” he said.
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