Siva Shankar and Erri Swamy drunk per lab tests; Shankar died in pre-collision skid, Swamy fled but confessed to liquor intake.
Bike from Lakshmipuram to Tuggali skids post-2:24 a.m. refuel; bus drags it, bursts fuel tank, ignites fire killing 19 passengers.
₹5 lakh ex-gratia from AP/Telangana/PM; 12 injured; police reconstruct scene, eye bus speed and luggage mobiles in probe.
Andhra Pradesh police confirmed on Sunday that the two bike-borne individuals involved in the deadly bus fire accident near Chinna Tekur village, which claimed 19 lives, were under the influence of alcohol at the time of the crash. The forensic verification aligns with initial suspicions from a viral video showing reckless riding at a petrol bunk, as the duo—Siva Shankar and Erri Swamy—skidded before the Bengaluru-bound bus ran over their two-wheeler, rupturing its fuel tank and igniting a massive fire.
Kurnool Range Deputy Inspector General Koya Praveen stated, "We just received the forensic confirmation that the two bike-borne persons (Siva Shankar and Erri Swamy) were drunk." Though police suspected intoxication earlier, they awaited lab results from samples taken from Shankar's intact body—pulled aside before the bus impact—and Swamy, who fled the scene but was later traced to his native Tuggali village and questioned. Swamy admitted to consuming liquor during interrogation, and a scene reconstruction confirmed the sequence: the bike skidded around 3 a.m. on October 24 after refueling at an HP petrol bunk near a Kia showroom at 2:24 a.m., following a dhaba stop.
The V. Kaveri Travels sleeper bus, carrying 44 passengers mostly from Hyderabad, was traveling at 80-90 kmph when driver Miryala Lakshmaiah—now in custody—hit the fallen bike, dragging it underneath and sparking the blaze fueled by over 100 mobile phones in luggage. Shankar died on impact from the skid, while 19 bus passengers perished in the fire; 12 survivors, including the drivers who escaped initially, received treatment. At least six victims were from Telangana.
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu announced ₹5 lakh ex-gratia per deceased family and ₹2 lakh for the injured, matched by PM Modi's ₹2 lakh PMNRF aid and Telangana CM A. Revanth Reddy's support. The probe continues into the fire's causes and drivers' actions, with calls for stricter drunk driving enforcement amid the tragedy's chilling details.
