Sanjay More (54) was the driver behind Seven people died in the accident in Kurla On Monday night, Best was a bus driver for three years. However, he had only recently started operations on Route 332, a route which had a fatal accident.
After leaving school in 1989, Morey began working as a truck assistant before pursuing a career as a professional driver. His family, who live in Ghatkopar’s Asalfa village, said More initially worked for a private company, but after it closed in 2020, he joined a wet lease service company to BEST and started driving BEST buses. He started with manual mini passenger buses and later moved to electric buses.
Despite the incident, More’s family claims he was a skilled and experienced driver. ‘He is an experienced driver,’ said his brother Manohar Ogle, defending Mor, saying that the accident might have been due to a mechanical fault.
Late on Monday, More was arrested by the Mumbai Police after he lost control of the bus after it rammed into several vehicles on SG Barve Marg in Kurla (West). Seven people died and 40 were injured in the incident.
Ogle added, “He joined BEST about three years ago after working as a driver in a tour and travel company. He initially drove a mini bus but after completing the necessary training, he started driving large electric vehicles (EV buses), for which he received a certificate.
However, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone Five) Ganesh Gawde said that More had started driving the electric bus about 10 days ago and it was being checked whether he was facilitated by proper training before being allowed to board the bus. “In his statement, the driver said that he panicked and could not control the vehicle,” revealed the DCP.
More lived with his elderly mother, wife, 21-year-old son and 18-year-old daughter in Asalfa village in Ghatkopar. His wife and son run a small restaurant for their income during the day. On the day of the incident, Morey was working the second shift from 3pm to 11pm.
“We have been in Asalfa Village since 1965, and everyone here is known as an excellent driver. “He has taught many locals how to drive without paying a penny,” said a family member.
While investigators are investigating whether Morey was driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, his family said he stopped drinking a year ago. “He had been an occasional drinker in the past,” Ogle said. “How could someone with no accident history and so much experience lose control of the vehicle and run over so many people? We strongly believe there was some problem with the vehicle that caused the crash.”
BEST officials said that an investigation is underway from all possible angles to find out the cause of the accident.