Monkey Business! Suspended KSRTC Bus Driver for allowing Monkey ‘Drive’ Now Tells His Story

Monkey Business! Suspended KSRTC Bus Driver for allowing Monkey ‘Drive’ Now Tells His Story

Mangaluru: A gray Langur (Hanuman Langur), or simply call it a Monkey in simple term had got a KSRTC bus driver in serious trouble, even his life shattered after being suspended from job, for his act in allowing a Langur to take charge of the wheels, which he never meant to do it intentionally, but his department officials thought it was not right on his part to do such a thing, and took serious action by suspending him.

Recalling the incident which took place on 1 October, where a video of the incident which has been spilling over the social network for a few days showed Prakash, from KSRTC’s Davanagere division, driving the bus with a langur comfortably perched on the steering wheel. What’s even more bizarre is that the driver happily allowed the animal to operate the steering wheel while he changed gears. Sources earlier revealed that the langur was accompanied by a trainer and was a regular passenger in the bus. However, this time, it went ahead and plonked itself on the driver’s seat. Despite the repeated efforts of the passengers to shun him, the langur refused to budge. Since Prakash is an animal lover, he too allowed it to continue sitting.

The incident took place on October 1 in a KSRTC bus plying from Davanagere to Bharamasagara. The usual bus route for passengers on this KSRTC bus turned out to be an adventure albeit a dangerous one, after the bus driver let a monkey take control of the steering wheel. And after the video went viral, the driver of the bus who willingly let the monkey drive the bus, was suspended by the KSRTC higher authorities, and a divisional security inspector is conducting an inquiry. “We have removed the driver from duty and have asked the divisional security inspector to conduct a detailed inquiry and submit a report. He won’t be assigned any further duty till probe is completed; he could even be suspended. If allegations of negligence are proven then he will be taken off from the field duty and will be allocated a desk job.” a senior KSRTC official had told media.

But it is now learnt that while no complaint was made toward the bus driver by any passengers, he was suspended because other bus drivers complained about him at KSRTC. How did the monkey end up on the steering wheel? Prakash, the KSRTC bus driver who was suspended after a video showing a langur sitting on the steering wheel of his bus went viral recently, has now narrated his story to a reporter of Indian Express- where talking about the October 2 incident, he said, “The langur jumped inside the bus from the passengers’ entry door, passed through the aisle and sat on the steering wheel. I was scared at first … but then I gathered some courage and tried to drive it away. However, I was successful only after about 2 km. It then jumped onto a sugarcane-laden tractor between Ele Bethur and Rampura. The langur did not harm me or the passengers as it was human-friendly,”.

Pouring out his anguish, he said, “I am suffering for a mistake that I did not commit …. my family is facing hardship after my suspension. My mother, wife and three children are left in the lurch after I was suspended for no fault of mine. Ever since I joined KSRTC 11 years ago, I have been driving the bus without any mishap. I was about to get a silver medal, but the langur incident has ruined my chances as an inquiry is now pending. At least I should be reinstated as I am the sole breadwinner of my family,”.

In the meantime, a regular commuter on the bus, Thimmanna called the entire incident an accident. “Prakash is a good man and should not be penalized,” he said. Echoing the same sentiment, Rashmi, a teacher at a private school who uses the bus regularly had said that Prakash was suffering for a crime not committed by him. Hailing from a poor background, Prakash couldn’t afford to build a house in Davangere city and was regularly commuting between Mallekatte (his village) and Davangere, to complete his duties and return home.

Looking at the video, seems like the Langur/Monkey did a good job at the steering wheel- now KSRTC can put an advertisement stating: Hiring Langurs/Monkeys with experience or No Experience Immediately to fill in the vacant driver posts?”. So what do our readers think about this situation? Does the driver deserve such harsh kind of punishment for a silly mistake he committed? Or the KSRTC officials have done the right thing by suspending him for his act. Post your comments on our comment blogger. Thank You!

Watch the incident on YouTube: