SNDP Bus incident on August 17 late night: Fare Dispute Turns Violent as Passengers Are Beaten and Kicked Off
I want to share something I witnessed yesterday (17 August) on an SNDP Express bus (Departs at 10:00 PM from State Bank.) travelling from Mangaluru towards Shivamogga via Mulki, Karkala and Hebri.
Two passengers, one is appeared to be from North Karnataka and one from kerala, boarded at Lalbagh. They were apparently travelling towards Surathkal/NITK, although I'm not completely sure about their destination.
There was a disagreement over the ticket fare. As far as I know, the fare for that section is around ₹64, but I don't know exactly how much the conductor charged them. One of the passengers questioned why they were being charged more. The argument became heated, and the conductor told them to get off the bus.
The passenger seemed hesitant because it could have been the last bus for them. At that point, the situation became physical. The conductor allegedly started hitting/forcing the passenger out.
What shocked me more was what happened next. Another passenger who had nothing to do with the original argument suddenly started attacking the passenger. He slapped and kicked him. Then another 3-4 people joined instead of trying to stop the fight.
Eventually, near/after Baikampady, two of the passengers were pushed out of the bus. I couldn't clearly see but seeing the reaction they fell badly, but the bus then continued.
The conductor had a long beard and a tattoo on his neck. The bus may have CCTV, so hopefully the footage can clarify exactly what happened.
I've also personally noticed that some conductors seem to treat local passengers differently from poorer/migrant passengers who don't speak Tulu, including asking for more money than the ticket fare. I'm not claiming I know for certain that this incident was because of regional or language prejudice, but given what I witnessed, I can't completely rule it out either.
What bothers me most is that this started as what seemed to be a fare dispute, possibly over a relatively small amount, and somehow turned into several people beating passengers and throwing them out of a bus.
Has anyone else experienced overcharging or different treatment on SNDP/private buses, particularly if you don't speak Tulu? And does anyone know how to formally report something like this to the RTO or police anonymously ?