Orissa: Father, daughter pushed out of bus, die

A man and his four-year-old daughter were crushed under a bus after being pushed out by the conductor for not paying exact fare.

A tribal man and his four-year-old daughter were crushed under the wheels of a bus after being allegedly pushed out of the vehicle by its conductor for paying Rs two less than the exact fare, police said on Thursday.

Thirty five-year-old Sanichar Toppo had boarded the bus with his daughter at Talpatia, five km from here, on Tuesday. When he failed to tender the exact fare as he had no money, the conductor continued to demand the balance amount of Rs two, police said.

The ticket fare for his journey was Rs 10.

When the bus started moving, the father and daughter were allegedly pushed out of the bus by the conductor on state highway No 10.

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The conductor and driver were later arrested. Local residents and passengers set the bus afire and blocked the state highway for quite some time before police personnel rushed to the area and dispersed the crowd.

Expressing grave concern over the tragedy, state Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Thursday announced an ex-gratia compensation of Rs 100,000 for Toppo’s next of kin.

The compensation would be paid from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund, official sources said.