Puttur: In a strange incident, a bus conductor jumped from a moving bus into the Kumaradhara River at Subrahmanya on Sunday, following a heated argument with a female passenger over a few hundred rupees change.

The deceased has been identified as Devadas (42), who was a conductor in a KSRTC bus plying from Mangaluru to Kukke Subramanya.

As per details, the government bus was going to Subramanya from Mangaluru. A woman who was travelling in the bus said that she had given Rs 500 to conductor  to buy her ticket and Devdas disputed with her  saying she had given him only Rs 100. That led to severe arguments between them and they went to Kadaba police, who sent them away after a compromise.

When the onward journey was on, the woman picked up the fight again with the conductor. Pained by this, Devdas jumped into the Kumaradhara river from the moving bus at around 11 a.m.

Devotees at bathing ghat tried to rescue him but their efforts went in vain and he was washed away. Till late evening efforts were on to retrieve the body.

Devadas, with 23 years of experience, was known for his integrity and had won the ‘Best Conductor’ award from the KSRTC last year, his colleagues said.

Devadas left a death note on his log sheet. It read, “It’s better to die after losing (one’s) dignity.” He also wrote, “Nanna Sahodyogigalige Namaskaragalu’ (My last wishes to my colleagues).”

Bus driver lodged a police complaint at Subramanya police station.