The school bus after the accident in Ranchi. Picture by Hardeep Singh

Ranchi, May 17: A Class XII student of DAV, Hehal, was crushed under the wheels of a bus of the same school near Piska More this morning.

Following the incident, an irate mob smashed the windscreen of the bus and further tried to damage it. But a police patrol vehicle intervened immediately to take the situation under control.

Considered one of the promising students of commerce stream, 18-year-old Niyati Maheshwari was returning home on a scooter with her classmate Monalisa after attending special class in the school.

While Monalisa was driving the two-wheeler, she tried to overtake their school bus (JH-01A-3404) only to find a bike right in front of them, police sources said.

?The girl riding the scooter could not control and they hit the biker head on. The impact made Niyati loose her balance and falling off from the vehicle on to the road. The bus too could not put on the brakes in the right time and crushed her. What was surprising that the bus did not stop and was moving straight which prompted local residents chasing and attacking it. There were some students and teachers in the bus,? said sources at the Sukhdeonagar police station

?However, the police van somehow pacified the crowd and took the bus under their custody. The driver of the bus was also arrested. Although the teachers and students rushed to Niyati, they could not save her,? said Randhir Kumar, officer-in-charge of Sukhdeonagar police station.

Niyati, a resident of Bariatu, is the daughter of Surendra Kumar Maheshwari who runs a medical shop in the area.

However, the police could not find the whereabouts of Monalisa. ?We do have the information that there was another girl along with herAfter we had pacified the crowd, a vehicle was sent immediately to RIMS along with the body of the girl.We did not have time to inquire about the other girl,? added the sources.

The information about the death of Niyati has come as a shock to the school management. Principal S.R. Modgil, who told that Monalisa was driving the scooter, added that the school would organise a condolence meeting tomorrow.

?It is a shocking incident for us. I am informed that the girl was a very sharp student and the teachers were expecting her to be one among the toppers in the board examinations. Many teachers, including me, visited her house today,? he added.