CHENNAI: Nearly a decade after a Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) bus mowed down two youths, both aged 20, a court in Chennai sentenced the driver of the vehicle to four and half years’ imprisonment. The fatal road accident happened in September 2017 in Ayanavaram.

According to the prosecution, Mani, the bus driver, was driving the vehicle rashly and negligently from east to west at the junction of KH Road and Somasundaram Street in Ayanavaram. The bus hit a two-wheeler, and in the impact, the two people riding that vehicle, R Manikandan (20) and S Tamilarasan (20), died on the spot.

The Kilpauk Traffic Investigation Wing (TIW) registered a case and conducted the inquiry, which revealed that Mani was responsible for the fatal accident. The police filed the final report before the magistrate. On Wednesday, the court held the charges proved.

Mani was convicted for two counts under Section 304 (A) of the IPC (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and was awarded four years’ jail term and Rs 10,000 fine. He was also convicted under Section 279 of the penal code (rash driving) and sentenced to six months’ jail and Rs 1,000 fine.