LEAD: Nine die in bus driver rampage in India

Jan 25, 2012, 11:25 GMT

New Delhi - Nine people, including two children, were killed and 27 injured Wednesday when a bus driver went on a rampage in the western Indian city of Pune, ramming vehicles and hitting pedestrians, police said.

The driver, Santosh Mane, 30, worked with a bus service run by the Maharashtra state government, Pune Police Commissioner Meeran Borwankar said.

Borwankar said Mane took an empty bus out of a depot with a master key and went berserk. He drove through crowded areas in busy morning traffic for about a half-hour ramming vehicles and running over pedestrians.

At least 40 vehicles were damaged. The 27 injured have been admitted to three hospitals in the city. Five of them are in critical condition.

Local television showed images of the battered bus, damaged vehicles it had rammed and streets strewn with vegetables from stalls it had crashed through.

Pedestrians pulled children, many of whom were on the streets on their way to school, out of the way of the bus which took them unaware as it was travelling on the wrong side of the road, NDTV news channel quoted eyewitnesses as saying.

Policemen chased the bus on motorbikes. 'Some police also shot at the bus, trying to stop the vehicle,' Borwankar said. 'Finally, when he slowed down, some people boarded the bus and forced him to stop and come down. He has been arrested.'

Borwankar said Mane was being interrogated and charges of murder had been filed against him. The reasons for his actions were still not clear, she said.

Mane had a valid licence and had worked normally according to a roster till Tuesday evening.

'His face showed stress and aggression. We tried to stop him ... but he drove with maddening speed on the wrong side making it difficult for us to keep up,' IANS news agency quoted police inspector Pundalik Dhaigude as saying.

Initial investigations indicated the driver was under the influence of alcohol, NDTV quoted an unnamed medical officer as saying.