Parents decline to complain against school van driver

BENGALURU: Parents of students who escaped with minor injuries when the Maruti van in which they were travelling caught fire near the Puttenahalli Metro station on Kanakapura Road on Saturday, didn't file a police complaint. They said they've known the driver Chandrashekhar alias Chandru for the past seven years and didn't find anything wrong with his driving.
"We know it is a short circuit-related incident.But we don't find anything wrong with Chandru; he has been ferrying our children for seven years and we trust him," they said.
A passerby, identified as Pradeep Kumar, broke open the windows of the vehicle and helped six school children, mainly in classes 6 and 7, to come out of the vehicle. On noticing the smoke, Chandru parked the vehicle by the roadside and looked for a mechanic to fix the problem.
Son bludgeons drunk father
Rajagop alanagar police arrested a 19-year-old daily wage worker for allegedly smashing his father's head with a stone at their home in Ambedkar Colony, Laggere in north Bengaluru.
The accused R Harish told police he was upset with his father Rajanna D because he would beat his mother every day. "My mother Nagaveni sells flowers and my father would spend most her income on liquor. Last night, he slapped my mother when she refused to give him money for liquor and that's I hit him with the stone," Harish told police.
Drunk police driver booked
West division traffic police booked a police jeep driver for allegedly driving the vehicle under the influence of alcohol and brushing against a pedestrian near Gali Anjaneya temple in Vijayanagar, off Mysuru road around Monday noon. The pedestrian, Mariyappa Gowda, was also drunk and he suffered minor injuries, police said.
Police said Ranganna, who works with the VVIP section of the police department, was returning home when the incident occurred. "Near the temple, Ranganna slowed the vehicle when it brushed against Mariyappa," police said.