MUMBAI: A 45-year-old woman riding pillion was killed and her husband injured after a speeding BMW, allegedly driven by a Shiv
Sena
functionary’s son, Mihir Shah (24), hit their scooter at
Worli
around 5.30am Sunday. Mihir, who had visited a bar Saturday night, fled and the BMW was found with their family
chauffeur
in Bandra later.
The impact was such that Kaveri Nakhwa and her husband Pradip, fisherfolk from Worli Koliwada, landed on the bonnet.
“Pradip banged on the windshield, gesturing the driver to halt… but the driver did not halt,” a
police
source said. Pradip who fell off first went in search of her and found her around 2km away. He rushed her to hospital, where she was pronounced dead.
The crash caused an uproar as it happened less than two months after the Pune Porsche case. Mihir’s father Rajesh Shah, a Sena functionary from Palghar, and the family chauffeur, Rishiraj Budwat who was seated beside Mihir at the time of the crash, were arrested late Sunday evening for helping him to flee.
Police have formed six police teams to trace Mihir. A lookout notice has also been issued to prevent him from flying out of the country.
10km away from accident site, cops find BMW with neta’s family driver
The car was abandoned at Kala Nagar, Bandra (east), about 10 km from the accident spot, around 7am. Police tracked it down using GPS and found the Shah family chauffeur Rishiraj Budwat with the car, while Mihir had fled. Police said Budwat was waiting for Shah Senior. As Rajesh Shah too reached the spot, police took both to Worli police station.
The car has been impounded by the police. A sticker on the windshield was defaced and the rear registration number plate was missing when the police found the vehicle.
His father told TOI that he was unaware of his son’s whereabouts. He claimed that he had learnt about the accident only after he started receiving phone calls from people. The car is registered in the father’s name and its insurance had expired in May. Mihir, who has studied till class 10, has been handling his father’s construction material supply business.
The police are examining CCTV footage to confirm that Mihir was driving at the time of the accident. Mihir and the chauffeur had left from the Shah’s Borivali home around midnight on a long drive. At Marine Drive, Mihir had asked the chauffeur to let him drive the car, said a police source.
About the accident, police said the woman and her husband were returning on the scooter after buying fish in wholesale near Crawford Market. The couple were knocked down from the two-wheeler on Dr Annie Besant Road and both landed on the car bonnet, the police quoted the husband as saying. The BMW revved up with the two still on the bonnet.
The woman was taken to Nair Hospital, Mumbai Central, where she was declared dead before admission. A case under various sections of the newly introduced Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including culpable homicide not amounting to murder, has been registered at Worli police station.
Sena (UBT) Aaditya Thackeray, MLA from Worli constituency, also visited the police station and met the woman’s husband and senior police officials, demanding stern action in the case. Chief minister Eknath Shinde said no one would be spared in the case and all shall be treated equally before the law, regardless of their position or party affiliation.
On Sunday, a team of transport officials and another team of forensic experts visited the police station and examined the BMW.
