Berhampur: The private bus, which had a head-on collision with an OSRTC bus near Digapahandi in Odisha’s Ganjam district claiming 12 lives, was operating without a permit.
As per Ganjam RTO Manas Sahu, the mini bus doesn’t have the requisite permit and insurance to ply during the night.
The axle of the25-year-old vehicle was in a damaged condition.
A complaint has been registered with the police and the probe is underway, the RTO stated.
Notably, the road mishap took place near Digapahandi at around 1 a.m. on Sunday night when the private bus returning from Berhampur collided with an on-coming state-run Odisha State Road Transport Corporation (OSRTC) bus .
The private bus occupants were returning to Khandadeuli near Digapahandi from a party at Berhampur when the tragedy struck just a few km before their destination.
Expressing grief over the loss of lives in the accident, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced an ex-gratia of Rs 3 lakh each to next of kin of the deceased and free medical treatment to those injured.
President Droupadi Murmu and Prime Minister Narendra Modi also expressed their grieves over the incident.