The person who opened fire in the air inside the RTC bus at Punjagutta in the heart of Hyderabad city on Thursday morning turned out to be a policeman from Andhra Pradesh.
According to the police investigation, the accused was identified as Srinivas, a police official working in the security wing of the Andhra Pradesh intelligence department.
He is said to be working as a security officer of a prominent person from AP in Hyderabad.
Apparently, the police official was returning to his home in the bus in which he had entered into argument with the co-passengers who objected to him standing at the footboard of the bus.
In a bid to threaten the passengers who argued with him, he opened fire in the bus and the bullet pierced through the roof of the bus. Srinivas got down from the bus immediately and fled the scene. Nobody was injured in the firing.
Bus driver Yakub Basha, who got panicky with the incident, drove the bus without stopping anywhere for a few kilometres.
He, along with conductor Bhupati, later took the bus to the Secunderabad Cantonment depot, before returning to Panjagutta police station to lodge the complaint.
Meanwhile, AP Director General of Police R P Thakur said he would get the matter investigated and take appropriate action.
“I got the information from Telangana police. It is a big crime to fire in a crowded bus. We shall get it investigated,” he said.