Private bus owner threatens and obstructs CTB bus ... by taking club into his hand (video)

Private bus owner threatens and obstructs CTB bus ... by taking club into his hand (video)

An incident of where a CTB bus driver was threatened with death by blocking his path, asking him to come later and behind the private bus was videoed by a commuter in the CTB bus, showing the man with a club in his hand. 

The school-bus belonging to Hasalaka depot had been plying from Randenigala to Kolongoda, Hasalaka at 6 in the morning when a private bus owner had blocked the road at the 6th milepost in Minipe and had made death threats to the driver and conductor of the CTB bus demanding that the CTB bus come later ... and that too with the assailant armed with a club -- all of which is seen on the
video. It is also seen in the video that this private bus which is travelling in front is observed moving at a slow speed, obstructing the path of the CTB bus, thus preventing the CTB bus not to pass their bus for quite a distance. 

This incident has taken place on the morning of last Friday the 10th. The driver and conductor of the CTB bus have lodged a complaint with Hasalaka police last Friday the 10th. As such, Hasalaka police officers have taken the suspects into custody day-before-yesterday (13). They are expected to be produced before Mahiyangana magistrate court. 

Hasalaka police sources say that they have received several complaints with owners of this bus obstructing the path of the CTB bus, attempting to assault CTB workers and reprimanding them. Several of these incidents have been settled by the 'samatha mandalaya' and when circumstances were such, there had been no lack of reprimands and death threats occuring continuously, obstructing the duty of these government servants, employees of Hasalaka CTB depot say. As such, it is a question whether there is no opportunity at all to be free from the private bus-owner mafia as well as state-owned passenger bus service. 

Incidentally, these private bus-owner possesses several buses while 2 of those buses ply along the Randenigala route without a valid route permit. In addition, those buses take to the road without a driving licence and conductor licence according to their whims and fancies apart from not issuing season tickets and to add hay to fire, even though officers of the central province road passenger authority were made aware, there had been no response in this connection, Hasalaka CTB depot officers say. 

-- Ranjith Karunaweera --

Video relating to the video, from below