Ranchi, Oct. 15: A reckless driver and a callous school administration together snuffed out an innocent life in the capital this morning.

Had 19-year-old Abhishek Prasad, a Class XII student of DAV Kapil Dev, known that the school would remain closed today in the wake of BJP leader L.K. Advani’s visit, he wouldn’t have fallen victim to a Delhi Public School (DPS) bus driver’s lust for speed.

It was like any other weekday in the Prasad household at Ratu Road, Sukhdeonagar. Abhishek woke up early, had a hurried breakfast and left for school on his scooty around 6am. He had barely reached Kishorganj Chowk in Kotwali, a kilometre from his residence, when a speeding DPS bus hit him from behind.

“My brother lost balance under the impact of the collision. He fell off his scooty and, unfortunately, on the right side. Before the driver could apply brakes, the rear wheels of the bus crushed him to death,” the victim’s cousin, Sanjay Kumar Soni, told The Telegraph.

Abhishek, the youngest son of Raj Kumar Prasad who runs a jewellery shop at Sona Patti in Upper Bazaar, was popular among his neighbours. His death has left everyone in the locality numb with shock. “He was a jolly good fellow and loved by friends and family members. We are shocked,” said a relative.

Local residents voiced their protest over the police’s inability to seize the vehicle and arrest its driver even hours after the accident.

Kotwali police station officer-in-charge Ashok Kumar Gupta pleaded innocence. “The accident took place early in the morning. We were busy making arrangements for Advaniji. It is a hit-and-run case. Eyewitnesses said it was a DPS bus, but no one could note down the number,” he said.

DPS principal Mahesh Bareja, too, could not identify the bus. “I was busy with a cricket match our school is hosting. I came to know about the accident only late in the afternoon. I tried to contact our drivers and conductors. Only three of the eight buses are owned by the school, the rest by private parties. By the time the news reached me, all the drivers and conductors had left the premises,” he said.

Abhishek’s father Prasad, however, squarely blamed the management of his son’s school. He said though the DAV group of schools had decided to remain closed for the day in the wake of a BJP rally, the authorities did not issue any notice in this regard. “My son would have been alive had the school authorities been responsible enough to put up a notice, at least in anewspaper,” he said.

Denying the allegation, DAV Kapil Dev principal S.R. Modgil said the decision was taken late last evening and the school had informed some reporters.

But Prasad said no daily carried a notice. “I barely get to see my elder son, Ashish, a student of computer engineering at IIT, Delhi. Abhishek helped me overcome the vacuum. And now he, too, is gone,” he broke down.