The driver of the bus who was found guilty of the charges of fatal accident in which 15 passengers were killed and left 40 others seriously injured after the bus collided with the train on May 16 in 2009 at Sevanapitiya Railway Crossing in Welikanda, had been arrested.
Police said the Polonnaruwa High Court had given the verdict in the case and imposed the death penalty on the accused on September 22 last year.
They said this driver last appeared in the High Court on August 05 in 2022 and after that, warrants were issued to him due to his non-appearance in the court.
The Welikanda Police arrested the accused today while he was avoiding the court.
The arrested, a 39-year-old is identified as a resident of Valachchena.
Fifteen passengers including several children were killed and 40 others injured when a private bus collided with a train at Sevanapitiya, Polonnaruwa.
The passengers numbering 70 included children of Al-Hizma nursery in Valaichchenai and their parents who were on a trip from Valaichchenai to Kandy when the bus met with the accident after the driver tried to speed past the rail gate ignoring the signals.
The bus was flung 200 metres away on impact and caught fire after the collision with the train which comprised fuel bowsers and passenger carriages heading from Gal-oya to Batticaloa. The train engine suffered extensive damage.
