Sept. 12: Luxury bus after luxury bus stood in rows and burned.

At least 40 buses, several of them Volvos that became the symbol of the modern commute in the country, were torched at one go on the outskirts of Bangalore this evening.

The buses that cost over Rs 1 crore apiece belonged to KPN Travels, a Tamil Nadu-based operator that takes pride as the first service to introduce Volvo's multi-axle buses in southern India.

The buses were parked at the company's yard in Kengeri, 20km from Bangalore, when the protesters descended with petrol cans and torched the vehicles.

More than 50 buses were in the yard. As many as 32 were completely destroyed, according to a preliminary estimate.

K.P. Natarajan, KPN's managing director who had personally driven the first bus along with a relief driver when the service was launched, said 40 buses were gutted or partially burnt.

"None of them can be salvaged. Of course, they are insured but the loss will hit our service to Karnataka. On any given day, at least 100 of our buses operate in Karnataka. The police have increased security for our other vehicles now confined to depots," Natarajan added.

It is ironic Karnataka became the mass graveyard for so many KPN buses because the transport company's first bus service operated between Tirunelveli in southern Tamil Nadu and Bangalore way back in 1972.

Natarajan, the son of a farmer from Salem, felt the need for a good bus service between major cities of the south because of overcrowded trains.

Focusing on punctuality and cordiality, the company added two more buses in the next two years. Today, Natarajan's fleet totals 210 buses, most of them Volvos.

"We were the first to introduce sleeper coaches, online ticket booking and also onboard catering," said Natarajan, who has studied only up to Class VII.