Greater Noida bus fire: Reservation manager arrested after CDR analysis reveals warning of passengers; mother-son duo among three other identified victims

The charred remains of a sleeper bus after it caught fire on Yamuna Expressway in Greater Noida area, killing nine passengers in Noida, Thursday, September 24, 2026. | Photo credit: PTI

The Greater Noida Police on Friday arrested the reservation manager of Raj Kalpana Travels, one of whose buses en route to Mahoba in Uttar Pradesh caught fire on the night of September 23, killing nine passengers.

The officer said an analysis of detailed call records showed that passengers had contacted the manager — 42-year-old Kanpur resident Vikas Kumar — to raise concerns about smoke and fire before the fire.

However, despite the warning, he did not take any action, the police said. He was charged with negligence.

The bus, with about 35 passengers on board, was about 5 km from the Noida International Airport at the time of the fire.

According to the FIR, registered at the Jewar police station on the complaint of a survivor, the passengers noticed a burning smell from the driver’s cabin around 11.30 pm and repeatedly asked the crew to stop. But the driver dismissed it as a normal occurrence and did not stop to inspect the vehicle.

Sent to judicial custody

Earlier, the police arrested two drivers and a conductor. All the four accused were produced before the Surajpur District and Sessions Court on Friday and were remanded in judicial custody for 14 days.

Breath tests conducted on the drivers and conductors came back negative, police said. Meanwhile, three more victims were identified on Friday and their bodies were handed over to their families. A senior officer said the bodies were badly burnt and were identified through DNA tests along with verification of physical features by relatives.

Published – 26 Sep 2026 02:04 IST