School van driver arrested after two girls fall off, injured in Vadodara

Police have arrested the driver of a school van after two girls fell off the vehicle and suffered injuries in Gujarat's Vadodara city, an official said on Saturday. The incident, which took place on the afternoon of June 19, was caught on a CCTV camera, and the footage went viral on social media, triggering public outrage.

Pranav Kataria, assistant commissioner of police, Vadodara, said the CCTV video was recovered from a residential society in the city's Tarsali Road locality. It showed two girls in uniform being thrown out of the van along with their school bags.

"In the video, two girls are seen falling off the school van on a road inside a residential society. The van driver seen in the video, Prateek Padhiyar, has been rounded up," Kataria said.


The girls suffered minor injuries, he said.

The official said a case has been registered against Padhiyar (23) for rash and negligent driving and endangering the life and personal safety of others under the Indian Penal Code, and the Motor Vehicles Act.

He added that the driver has a learner's licence.