A BMTC bus driver is battling for life at Bengaluru’s Victoria Hospital after he consumed poison on Tuesday morning while protesting alleged harassment by his depot manager.
The driver, Madhu, is in a serious condition and is undergoing treatment in the Intensive Care Unit.
An ambulance was called around 10:30 AM after he was found lying unconscious at the depot.
According to his colleagues, Madhu was upset about a recent change in shift and was late to report for duty on Tuesday.
Following the incident, the staff of two depots (BMTC Depot 2 and 3) in Shantinagar refused to carry out their duties and staged a protest over alleged highhandedness of the depot manager of the transport body.
#BMTC drivers and conductors protest against depot manager Prakash at Shanthinagar bus depot in #Bengaluru pic.twitter.com/9FsX3zB11O
— NEWS9 (@NEWS9TWEETS) September 19, 2017
Bus services were affected in some routes which start from Shantinagar before the protests were called off following intervention from the senior staff.
#BMTC drivers & conductors withdraw protest outside Shanthinagar bus depot after talks with #BMTC officials. Buses start plying from depot. pic.twitter.com/6MRsHv6W3J
— NEWS9 (@NEWS9TWEETS) September 19, 2017
"The BMTC staff in Depot 2 and 3 had staged a protest and had refused to ply 180 buses. Just a few minutes ago, the senior staff of BMTC including me spoke with the workers. We assured to investigate and take stringent action against the depot manager. They disbursed and the protest has come to a halt," BMTC MD Ponnuraj V told TNM.
This is not the first incident of the kind where a BMTC staff attempted suicide protesting against their higher-ups.
In December 2015, a 47-year-old driver attempted suicide in BMTC’s HSR depot after allegedly being denied leave by his superiors.
A month before that, a KSRTC driver-cum-conductor committed suicide over alleged harassment by his seniors and another contract employee attempted suicide demanding a permanent job.