Hyderabad, Mar 28: Youths armed with knives and sticks first stoned an AP Tourism Volvo bus going from Shirdi to Hyderabad on Tuesday midnight in Maharashtra's Solapur district, but the driver foiled their attempt.
There were nearly 20 youths in the group, who first stoned the bus, and after the drivers alighted from the vehicle to check tyres, the youths forcibly tried to board the bus.
Bus driver Mohammed Sardar and his associate driver P. Srinivas Raju showed presence of mind and drove the bus at high speed to escape from the spot.
Said Mohammed Sardar: “After halting for a while at a dhaba in Ahmednagar, we were moving along the state highway on the Karmala-Solapur route.
"We were just seven kilometres out of Karmala, when suddenly the bus was pelted with stones. We heard what sounded like a blast near the bus. Thinking that the tyre had burst, my fellow driver and I got down to check it.
"Suddenly, about 20 youngsters appeared out of the darkness with knives and sticks and began running towards the bus shouting abusive words, and started attacking us,” Sardar said.
There were 34 passengers in the Volvo bus (AP23 Y2156).
The passengers complained to police manning a post at Tembhurni tollgate, but they said the area came under Karmala police station .
APTDC's travel manager Mohammed Ibrahim said a complaint will be filed with SP, Ahmednagar on Thursday.
