MTC Bus Conductor, Passenger Assaulted

CHENNAI: Tense moments prevailed when crew members of MTC  buses refused to ply their vehicles after a conductor and passenger were assaulted by unidentified persons at New Washermenpet on Tuesday. On noticing a group of persons travelling on footboard, Anbarasu (35), conductor on MTC 56D route - proceeding from Broadway to Manali - urged them to climb inside. It was around 8 pm, when the vehicle reached Lakshmi Kovil bus stop at New Washermenpet. When the footboard travellers continued to turn a deaf ear to his constant pleas, Anbarasu took them to task at the bus stop. A passenger, Narayanasamy, also scolded them for their behaviour. The unidentified men assaulted both the conductor and passenger and took to their heels.On learning about the attack on the bus conductor, crew of other MTC buses plying the route parked their vehicles on the road in protest. A police team led by Inspector Jawahar arrived and conducted talks with the striking MTC crew and promised to catch the culprits soon. The MTC men then relented and removed their vehicles. Traffic was affected for about half-an-hour.A senior official of the MTC said that officials from Tondairpet Depot rushed to the spot for negotiating with the crew members. “Thereafter, the operations resumed,” he added.20 Held for Selling LiquorPolice on Monday conducted surprise raids at 14 places in the city and arrested 20 persons for selling liquor illegally outside the TASMAC shop, as it was a dry day. Police recovered more than 550 liquor bottles from the arrested accused and seized `50,000 from them.