A high level committee headed by Maharashtra Chief Secretary Johny Joseph will probe into the shootout in a BEST bus in which a youth was killed, officials said on Tuesday.

"The committee has been directed by Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh to submit its report on the incident at the earliest," they said.

Deshmukh had said on Monday that the DGP and Mumbai police commissioner would inquire into all aspects of the incident, including how the armed youth got into the public transport bus and whether his killing could have been avoided.

Deshmukh said he had spoken to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh [Images] and Union Home Minister Shivraj Patil [Images] on Monday and assured them that the inquiry report would be submitted at the earliest.

The crime branch of the Mumbai police is also conducting an internal probe into the incident, a senior police official said on Tuesday.

Rahul Raj, a resident of Patna who was carrying a countrymade revolver, had taken control of the upper deck of a double decker bus in suburban Kurla along with about 12 passengers.

The youth, who claimed he had come to Mumbai to kill Maharashtra Navnirman Sena leader Raj Thackeray [Images], was killed in firing by the police and is alleged to have shot one passenger of the bus and fired at least four rounds.