Pune, Apr 9 (Agencies): A driver who hijacked a bus and mowed down nine people on Pune’s streets with manic ruthlessness was on Monday awarded death sentence by a sessions court, which termed his crime the “rarest of rare.”

Additional sessions judge V K Shevale handed down the extreme punishment to Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation driver Santosh Mane, 35, after rejecting the defence argument that he committed the crime in “a fit of insanity.” The court held that Mane was fully conscious of the consequences of his action.

“The accused has committed the murder of nine persons by moving the bus dangerously with the intention and knowledge that the act was so imminently dangerous that it will cause death or bodily harm,” the judge observed.

The judge on April 3 pronounced Mane guilty under Sections 302 (murder), 381 (theft of employer’s property), 307 (attempt to murder) and 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The driver, attached to the Swargate depot, had hijacked a state transport bus on the morning of January 25 last year while its driver was away for a cup of tea. He thereafter embarked on a deadly ride, crushing people under the wheels and ramming vehicles.

Driving down the wrong side of the road, he hit whatever came in the way, triggering panic in the city. Nearly 45 minutes after the nightmarish ride began, the rampaging bus was brought to a halt by police and the public. By then, nine people had lost their lives and 37 others wounded. The police had to open fire to puncture the tyres of the vehicle as it slowed down in a traffic jam. A dozen vehicles were also damaged.

Mane’s family and a psychiatrist had claimed that he was suffering from mental illness.

The judge refused to give Mane the benefit of insanity under Section 84 (acts done by a person of an unsound mind) of the IPC and passed strictures on defence witness and psychiatrist Dilip Burte for furnishing “false evidence” in the court.

The court observed that Mane was fully conscious of his actions since he did not dash the vehicle against any building but targeted people.

Defence counsel Dhananjay Mane contended that the driver’s medical reports were ignored and he would now appeal in the high court.