Amid a search for the son of a Shiv Sena leader over a fatal BMW crash in Mumbai yesterday, CCTV footage showing the key accused has gone viral.
The video shows Mihir Shah leaving a pub in a Mercedes car with four of his friends. The cops said he changed the car later and was driving the BMW while his driver was in the passenger seat.
The speeding BMW hit a scooter in Worli early Sunday morning, killing a woman who was riding pillion with her husband, police said. Mihir was allegedly drunk at that time.
His father, Rajesh Shah – a leader of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s party in Palghar, and the BMW’s driver Rajrishi Bidawat were arrested last evening for not cooperating with the cops. The BMW was registered in Rajesh Shah’s name.
Mihir remains elusive with cops suspecting that his girlfriend may have helped hide him. They are questioning her too while a lookout notice has been issued for him.
The victim was identified as Kaveri Nakhwa, 45, who was travelling to Worli Koliwada from Mazagaon Docks with her husband, Pradip, when their scooter met with the accident.
The two were thrown in the air and crashed on the bonnet of the car. While Pradip managed to jump off the bonnet, the car dragged his wife about 100 metres in an attempt to escape. She was rushed to a hospital but was declared brought dead.
Mihir and the driver fled the scene and abandoned the car at Kala Nagar, Bandra East before parting ways in separate autos, police said. The driver who went to Borivali was arrested in the evening while four police teams are still looking for Mihir.
According to police sources, the accused drank at a bar in Juhu the night before the crash and went for a long drive after that. As they reached Worli, Mihir insisted on driving and the accident occurred soon after he took the wheels.
Cops have filed a case under the new criminal code, Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, rash driving, and destruction of evidence, and also invoked provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act.
Maharashtra Chief Minister and Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde has assured action and said everyone is equal before the law.
The incident comes months after a similar hit-and-run case involving a Porsche car and the minor son of an influential realtor left two young engineers dead in Pune. The boy was found drunk at the time of the incident. His parents and grandfather were arrested for allegedly trying to destroy evidence.
