Meerut: A Rajasthan Transport sleeper bus en route to Jalandhar in Punjab overturned in Jhinjiana region of Shamli, resulting in the death of two passengers and injuries to 25.According to officials, the accident happened because the driver lost control of the vehicle while trying to avoid a collision with a tractor coming from the opposite direction.Shamli superintendent of police Ajay Pal Sharma said, “The bus was going to Jalandhar and met with an accident near Bidoli checkpost. The two dead passengers have been identified as Pradeep Kumar of Shrawasti district and Basher Kumar of Bahraich. Around 25 passengers were injured also.”According to police sources a hundred passengers were travelling in the bus at the time it overturned. It is quite rare that a sleeper bus is seen in this part of UP, where neither are the roads up to the mark nor is it safe as high tension power cables hang quite low in the region posing a grave threat to such vehicles. However, regional transport office of Shamli gave a clean chit to the bus.Mohd Qayyum, additional regional transport officer of Shamli said, “The bus had an all-India travel permit so it doesn’t make a difference in which part of the country it was travelling. There was no illegality in this regard. The bus overturned because of an accident.”However, another senior official at the RTO who did not wish to be quoted, said, “We do not give permit to sleeper buses in this region. There are too many potential hazards. First, because of its double height, balance becomes problem if the road is not good and there are many areas in western UP where roads are still not in a very good state. Second, overhead cables always pose a risk.”According to an RTO official, the roads of Shamli and neighbouring areas are not fit for a sleeper bus for various reasons but since the bus had an all-India permit it could not be prevented from plying on the road.

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