Youth opens fire in Mumbai bus, 1 dead 2 injured

The violence triggered by the attacks on north Indians in Mumbai, allegedly by MNS activists, turned uglier on Monday morning when a youth from Bihar was killed by police inside a bus in central Mumbai after he opened indiscriminate fire.

"The man fired at the police in Bail Bazaar area of Kurla and was shot in retaliatory fire," joint commissioner of police (crime), Rakesh Maria said.

According to police sources, the incident occurred around 09.45am near Chowkie No. 3 near Bail Bazaar in Kurla, Central Mumbai, inside BEST's double-decker bus number 332, which was going from Andheri to Kurla.

According to police sources, the youth, later identified as 27-year-old Rahul Raj, had come to Mumbai from Patna two days ago.

Sources said the youth tried to take the passengers hostage. There were two conductors on the bus — Shivaji Borde and Machhindra Ugale. A S Khan was the driver.

Sources said Rahul was sitting on the first floor of the bus, when one of the two conductors approached him and asked him to buy a ticket. Police said that he tried to strangle a conductor with a steel chain. The driver then stopped the bus near a police chowkie and one of the conductors went to the police station and called the cops.

In a shocking incident, a youth fired six bullets in a local double-decker BEST bus between Andheri and Kurla, injuring one passenger and the bus conductor.

Following the sudden firing, the bus was brought to a halt and the police from the nearby station rushed to the site. The man was soon arrested, as confirmed by Hassan Gaffoor, Commissioner of Mumbai Police. The police also seized the bus.

According to witnesses, the man boarded the Bus No. 332 from Sakinaka, Andheri. Following which, the man shouted, "I am from Patna and no one should go upstairs." The man wrote some demands in a paper before he began firing, added witnesses.

The injured were soon rushed to the nearby Rajawadi hospital and the condition of the bus conductor is stated to be critical.