JOHOR BARU: A woman who was provoked by a bus driver and forced off the vehicle recently has related what happened.
When speaking to the New Straits Times, S. Sheeladevi, 31, said the incident on Thursday was the second encounter she had with the same bus driver.
The beautician who works in a beauty salon in Singapore said she usually boards a free shuttle bus from her house in Taman Inang in Perling, here.
The bus takes commuters from housing states in Johor Baru to the JB Sentral, which is an integrated transport hub, connecting cross-border travels.
She said a few weeks prior to the May 2 incident, she encountered the bus driver when she took a stage bus.
"Since I usually take the free bus, so I did not have small change for the RM1 bus fare in hand."
Since she was running late that day, Sheeladevi boarded a fare-based bus from a station near her house.
"After boarding the bus, I informed the driver that I only had a RM50 note.
"He did not respond verbally, but made a hand gesture.
"I told him I would get smaller change and pay the RM1 fare, but when I returned, the bus had already left.
"I never boarded the bus or saw the driver again and ended up forgetting about the owed fare," she told the NST.
However, she said that unfortunate Thursday, she was running late and had boarded the T1-fare-based bus, driven by the alleged driver.
Sheeladevi said she did not recognise the driver from the weeks prior, and paid the RM1 fee and sat near the driver.
"He spoke to me rudely and asked how much I paid; he even accused me of not paying in the past.
"I am upset and reminded him to speak decently…that made him angry and it triggered the altercation.
"He then ordered me to get off the bus also threatened to pull my hair if I did not," she said.
She alighted near Stulang, a few metres away from JB Sentral, and lodged a police report later at the Larkin police station.
Meanwhile, Johor Baru (South) police chief Assistant Commissioner Raub Selamat said the bus driver who allegedly provoked the woman commuter and forced her off the vehicle was yet unreachable.
He said the driver applied for leave from his employers and is believed to be out of the state, while his mobile phone is switched off.
"Even the bus company is unable to contact him. He is not reachable at the moment," he said when contacted today.
Raub said the suspect was not arrested as police have yet to receive an order to investigate from the deputy public prosecutor, which is police procedure," he said when contacted today.
The public prosecutor is required to issue an Order-To-Investigate (OTI) if the alleged act amounts to a non-seizable offence.
The Land Public Transport Agency (Apad) has ordered the bus company in the case to investigate it to ensure a similar incident does not occur again.
It also said that the company had suspended the bus driver in question.