Chandigarh, August 23:
Punjab Transport Minister S. Laljit Singh Bhullar, on Wednesday, informed that the Minister's Flying Squad, formed to combat corrupt practices within the department, has nailed a driver pilfering 20 liters of diesel from government bus, a conductor for embezzling ticket money and not issuing tickets to passengers, while five buses were reported for operating on unscheduled routes and one bus plying sans passengers.
Further elaborating, S. Laljit Singh Bhullar revealed that the Flying Squad conducted a raid in Jiwan Nagar (Haryana) and caught the driver, Ranjit Singh, red-handed in the act of pilfering 20 liters of diesel from his alloted Bus No. PB-10FF 4952 of PUNBUS Depot Ludhiana.
During the checking in Dhar Kalan (Pathankot), the Flying Squad caught a conductor Amandeep of Bus No. PB-06AS 8772 of Pathankot Depot for not issuing tickets to passengers despite collecting Rs.545 from them.
The Flying Squad also reported five buses operating on unscheduled routes. In a check in Goraya, Bus No. PB-02-EG 4673 of Tarn Taran Depot and Bus No. PB-02-EG 3064 of Amritsar-2 Depot were found operating on unscheduled routes. Similarly, during an inspection in Phagwara, Bus No.PB-02-EH 2749 of Amritsar-1 Depot and Bus No. PB-32P 3598 of Nawanshahar Depot were found plying on unscheduled routes, while Bus No. PB-02-EG 9427 of Patti Depot was also found operating on different route than the scheduled one during the checking at Kartarpur. Apart from this, Bus No. PB-06BC 0216 from Batala Depot was found operating without passengers.
The Transport Minister has instructed the department officials to take appropriate disciplinary action against the employees involved.