Karnataka man caught wearing burqa to avail free bus ride, let off after warning

The burqa-clad man was caught by the public at the bus stop. Although the man claimed he came for begging, police found an Aadhar card with details of a woman in his possession.

Hubli: A man wearing a burqa was caught by passengers at Saunshi bus stand. The man disguised as a woman allegedly to avail free bus ride under the Shakti scheme.

The matter came to light after co-passengers sitting at the bus stop became suspicious at his behaviour and removed the burqa. It was learnt that he had travelled from Bengaluru to Saunshi. A passenger said that he was wearing a burqa to avail the Shakti scheme under which women are entitled to travel free in buses.

The man, however, claimed that he had come to Saunshi in a burqa for begging. He said that his name was Veerabhadraya Ningaya Mathapati and he hailed from Ghodagori village of Sindagi taluk of Vijayapur district.

The co-passengers handed him over to the police. On further questioning, officials found that he was suffering from some mental illness. "It is not certain whether he is a beggar or wanted to avail free bus ride. After searching, we found a copy of an Aadhar Card having details of a woman from him. We let him off after giving a warning," police said.

Karnataka government's Shakti scheme was launched on June 11 as the first five poll guarantees of the Congress government. The scheme offers free bus ride to all women irrespective of their caste and religion travelling on state-run buses.

The four road transport corporations namely Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation, Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation, North Western Karnataka Road Transport Corporation and Kalyana Karnataka Road Transport Corporations registered a rise in ridership as well as revenue ever since the scheme was implemented, officials said.