Drunk driver caught on camera: RTO seizes Kozhikode–Bengaluru private bus

Kozhikode: The Enforcement Wing of the Kozhikode Regional Transport Office has seized a private bus operating on the Kozhikode–Bengaluru–Chennai route after a video surfaced showing its driver in an inebriated state. In the footage, the driver is seen shouting at passengers who questioned his drunken driving and asked him to stop the vehicle. According to passengers, the incident occurred on November 24.

Following the incident, Motor Vehicles Department (MVD) officials seized the bus Bharathi, operated by Chennai-based Bharathi Travels, from Kozhikode on Thursday.

Joint RTO (Enforcement) C S Arun Kumar said a notice will be issued to the bus owner on Friday, directing him to produce the driver involved. “Action, including cancellation of the driver’s licence, will be taken,” he said. Officials also stated that the bus was operating without the required documents.

Passengers described the journey as terrifying, alleging that both the driver and the cleaner were drunk. When they tried to stop the bus, the driver threatened to crash the vehicle and kill them. He also switched off the lights to prevent passengers from recording videos. A cleaner, also visibly drunk, was seen lying on a seat, unaware of his surroundings.

As the situation escalated, passengers forcibly halted the bus at a toll plaza on the Bengaluru–Mysuru Expressway and restrained the driver. However, the driver, a native of Tamil Nadu, managed to flee from the scene. Following this, the passengers had to wait nearly 90 minutes for another driver to arrive from Bengaluru.

Ahammed Sanober, a Bengaluru-based hotel owner who filmed the incident, said the entire journey was a nightmare. A regular traveller on the Kozhikode–Bengaluru route, he explained how he had to switch buses twice that night due to the driver’s behaviour.

Sanober said the bus left without him during a dinner break at Gundalpet, despite his efforts to signal the driver. Restaurant staff told him the driver had been drinking. After boarding another bus to Mysuru, Sanober tracked down the Bharati bus at the Mysuru bus stand to retrieve his luggage—only to lose the second bus as well. Forced to continue on the Bharati bus, he soon realised the driver was swerving dangerously. After confronting him and spotting a liquor bottle in the cabin, Sanober alerted other passengers. Despite repeated pleas, the driver kept threatening to crash the bus.

“At the toll plaza, another passenger and I forcibly stopped the bus. When I went to alert the highway police, the driver ran off with the liquor bottle. We waited 1.5 hours before another driver arrived. It is a relief that the RTO has seized the bus,” he said.