Copied from the O Heraldo website http://www.epaperoheraldo.in/Details.aspx?id=2391&boxid=41717328&uid=&dat=02/26/2012
----------- The election fever has well and truly diverted attention from a tragedy that was completely avoidable. The bus which fell in to the river at Calvim claiming six lives, in all likelihood had an errant negligent 17 year old at the wheel who had no business to be there or even inside the driver’s cabin, where he was seen. Vibha Verma and Barnabe Sapeco discover the negligence and the cover up --------- It was not just a bus that drowned taking with it seven lives. The real truth about who caused the tragedy has not just been drowned but deliberately kept under because the truth could be very very uncomfortable, not just for the driver but in an indirect way even the Goa police. The lone survivor story has a casualty. The real story – Heralds investigations point to one absolute reality and a second strong possibility. The reality is that the survivor Samarth Shirodkar was in the driver’s cabin, against all rules, when the bus plunged into the water. The second storing possibility was that Samarth ( 17), a minor, was actually driving the bus. The wheels were handed over to him by the driver, since he was is pal, “ just for fun” and Samarth, who according to reports, spends more time glued to his mobile screen, was on the phone when the bus fell. And another glaring truth that stares the Goa police in the face is that the driver Yogesh has a brother who works for the Goa police and is currently posted as Driver Constable with the Motor Transport section. So, a cover up was not only possible, but needed, since if it can be proven that the bus was handed over to a 17 year old student, the driver’s complicity becomes very serious and could result in far reaching consequences. Less than a week after the tragedy, reports started appearing about a 17 year old survivor Samarth Shirodkar, who cropped up out of nowhere to let the world know he survived. The funny thing is that he was found on the very day of the tragedy, lying in the mud on the river bank. Samarth’s father, political activist Shivdas, said that his son literally struggled to get onto the shore when the bus skidded into the water. “ He managed to reach the shore and collapsed in the muck,” the father said, adding that the locals helped him to get out. “ Police had cordoned off the area. Samarth’s friend Nitin called another friend Manoj, who in turn informed me that my son alive and was lying in the muck,” he said, fumbling over his words. Shivdas added “ The police came to our house at about 9: 30– 10pm and called us to the police station,” he said, explaining that he was not aware who informed the police about his son being the only survivor. “ My son was in a state of shock. We could not take any step at that moment… there was huge rush. We told the police later,” he stated. The big point here is that the police came to Shivdas’s house , took Samarth to the police station and then to the homes of two girls who had got down from the bus on the same night. They returned with Samarth to the home of one of the girls the next morn- ing because they couldn’t meet her the previous night. So why did the police high- light this. When the ‘ survivor” was roaming around with the police for almost five days af - ter the incident, why was this not mentioned. Normally, sur- vivor details are revealed as soon as possible. Herald camped in Calvim and spoke to a cross section of people and has pieced together why it was prudent for the police to keep survivor Samarth’s real story dead. In- vestigations revealed that the lone survivor was sitting besides the driver in the cabin on the day. During visits to Aldona and St Thomas School complex, Herald reporters came across a 17- year- old vocational student, who gave details of what could have happened. “ Samarth would often sit in the cabin and play on his mobile phone,” he said requesting anonymity. Some of the people we spoke to in the area also confirmed that Samarth was a regular traveller on the ill fated Shree Ganesh bus and was close to Rajesh Naik alias Yogesh, who was supposedly driving the bus on that day. Some say that he was at some point of time behind the wheel, as he would often be, an indulgence permitted by his friend the driver, who is also the owner of the bus. Samarth was attempting to drive the bus. However, his father rubbishes the theory. “ He is not interested in four wheelers. He does not know to drive,” he said. However for a father who admits knowing little about his son’s whereabouts and his life ( he didn’t even know where he was headed to on the ill fated day), he may well be in the dark about his son’s “ driving skills”. The tragedy is that this seventeen year old, though not deliberately, could have played a far bigger role in the tragedy than just being a survivor who escaped. =========== There is obviously more to it than meets the eye. Please sign the petition at: http://www.change.org/petitions/the-goa-government-appoint-a-judical-commission-to-inquire-into-the-calvim-ferry-tragedy Cheers! Cecil ============= --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Protect Goa's natural beauty Support Goa's first Tiger Reserve Sign the petition at: http://www.goanet.org/petition/petition.php ---------------------------------------------------------------------------