Dhangadi, October 11

Appellate Court, Dipayal has upheld the verdict given by District Court, Doti against the driver of a bus involved in the accident at Jorayal, which killed 30 persons in Doti last year.

The district court had slapped a 10-year-jail term on Birendra Sahu, the bus driver, in March.

Following the verdict, his kin had filed a case at Appellate Court, Dipayal.

Chief judge of the court Deep Kumar Karki and judge Nar Bahadur Shahi jointly upheld the district court verdict today, according to court registrar Ramananda Prasad Adhikari. A bus en route to Dhangadi from Jorayal, Doti, had met with an accident, killing 27 people on the spot and three others in the course of treatment, at Jorayal on October 7 last year. As many as 59 persons sustained injuries in the accident.

According to reports made public by various investigation panels, the accident had occurred as the bus was overloaded and plying over a road, not permitted for vehicles. It was learnt that some essential parts of the bus were not operating properly even before the journey.