Jaipur: An FIR has been filed against the driver and a brick kiln owner Wednesday by Jaipur (Rural) police for Tuesday’s fire on the bus from Uttar Pradesh that killed a father and his daughter and left six others injured. The vehicle had caught fire after coming into contact with a high-voltage power line in Todi village of Manoharpur.Most of the passengers in the bus were labourers from Pilibhit in UP who had come for seasonal employment at the kiln. Manoharpur police station SHO Bhagwan Sahai said the FIR was registered under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) for culpable homicide not amounting to murder. “The FIR is against bus driver Mahfooz and the brick kiln owner. Investigations are ongoing and the kiln owner’s role in the accident will be determined based on our findings,” he said.Police said the bus had taken a dirt road to the brick kiln even though bystanders and passengers had warned the driver of low-hanging power lines on the route. The vehicle touched an 11kV power line moments later, resulting in the blaze and LPG cylinders exploding, they said.Preliminary investigation also found evidence of some motorcycles on the bus, though it’s not yet clear if they had fuel in their tanks at the time of the accident. Police said they also found stoves, bedding, blankets and other household items in the bus, all of which contributed to the fire spreading rapidly and turning the vehicle into a fireball.Separate teams are conducting technical examinations and collecting forensic evidence from the scene, police added.
