A tribal and his four-year-old daughter were crushed under the wheels of a bus after being allegedly pushed out of the vehicle by its conductor, for paying Rs 2 less than the exact fare, the police said on Thursday.
Thirty five-year-old Sanichar Toppo had boarded the bus with his daughter at Talpatia in Orissa on Tuesday. When he failed to tender the exact fare as he had no money, the conductor continued to demand the balance amount of two rupees, the police said.
The ticket fare for his journey was Rs 10.
When the bus started moving, the father and daughter were allegedly pushed out of the bus by the conductor, on state highway no 10. The conductor and driver were later arrested.
Local residents and passengers set the bus afire and blocked the state highway for quite some time before police personnel rushed to the area and dispersed the crowd.
Expressing grave concern over the tragedy, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today announced an ex-gratia compensation of Rs one lakh for the next of kin of Toppo.
The compensation would be paid from the chief minister's relief fund, official sources said.