A Class XII student, riding a bike in top gear without helmet, lost his life in a collision with a school bus in capital Ranchi on Monday morning.
Seventeen-year-old Shoyeb Ansari was barely a kilometre from his Vivekanand Vidya Mandir campus, near Shaheed Maidan in Dhurwa, when he rammed his bike into a St Thomas School bus, carrying 50 children, at a sharp bend near Shalimar Market. The teenager was the son of a forester posted in Khunti and a resident of Tupudana, 5km from Shaheed Maidan.
An eyewitness said the accident took place at 7.15am. "The boy was speeding towards Shalimar Market More. A school bus was coming from Birsa Chowk side. As the driver took a right, the bike drove right into the left headlight of the bus. The boy was not wearing a helmet and his head smashed against the bus. He fell on the road. Policemen from a Dhurwa thana outpost rushed him to HEC Plant Hospital, but doctors declared him brought dead," the man said.
The eyewitness added that since the bus was crowded with schoolchildren, police allowed the driver to drop them home. "Besides, the bus driver wasn't directly at fault. Police seized the boy's bike."
A policeman said Shoyeb was the second son of Khunti-based forest official Sajjad Ansari. "He has a brother and three sisters, living in Ranchi. The family has been informed."
Dhurwa OC Krishnanand Paswan confirmed that Shoyeb was both speeding and not wearing helmet. "Had he been wearing a helmet, he would have escaped with injuries. Youngsters on bikes are prone to speeding. It is not a right thing to do," he said.
On whether the school bus had been seized and whether its driver would be arrested, Paswan said, "The driver did not return to police station after parking the bus on St Thomas campus. A case has been registered (against him) under Section 304A (causing death by negligence) of the IPC. We seized the bus and brought it to the thana in the evening."
On why the case had been registered against the driver if the student was at fault, the officer said, "Prima facie, it appears that it was the boy's mistake. However, reckless driving of school buses cannot be ignored. Rest is a matter of investigation."
Shoyeb's body was sent to Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences for post-mortem.
Vivekanand Vidya Mandir has suspended classes on Tuesday to mourn its student's untimely demise.
St Thomas principal Mathew Monu expressed his condolences. "We are deeply pained by the tragedy though the student was not from our school. Everyone must adhere to traffic rules," he said.
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