Mumbai: Following the tragic incident in the Worli area of Mumbai on Sunday, the husband of a deceased woman, Pradeep Nakhwa on Monday questioned the delay in arrest of the accused Mihir Shah, and said that he dragged his wife from Ceejay House to Sea Link Road.
Regarding the delay in the arrest, Nakhwa said it was due to "politics" and asserted that the accused would not be arrested till the Vidhan Sabha session ends.
Nakhwa alleged that the accused is not getting arrested because he is the son of a political leader.
In an exclusive interview with ANI, the husband of the deceased woman in the Worli hit and run case, Pradeep Nakhwa said, "We were on our daily routine, as we are fishermen and as part of our daily routine, on Sunday at 4 am, we were returning through the Peddar Road from the fish hatchery after buying fish. We were driving slowly with a speed of 35-40 km/hr on the side of the road. Suddenly, a car with extreme speed came and hit us, we didn't even realize how fast it was. We flew into the air and dropped on his car's bonnet." "When he put the brake, I fell on the left side of the road while my wife came under the wheels of his vehicle. He didn't stop after that, I tried to stop him but he didn't and dragged her from Ceejay House to Sea Link Road. There was smoke from the wheels when he was dragging my wife. After the incident, he fled from the spot," said Nakhwa.
Describing further, Nakhwa stated, "I tried multiple times to stop him, but he didn't. Even I took a taxi to catch him but couldn't find him anywhere. After that, I went to a police station and informed the officials and after some time, they informed me about the body of a woman on sea-link, and took it to Nair Hospital and then called me." Expressing his grief, Nakhwa asserted, "He dragged her from Ceejay House to Sea-link Road. Would he have done the same if she was his sister? He did this to us because we are poor? My kids, my family, everything is shattered now. She was the only one who managed everything." As the accused is still not apprehended, questioning the administration on the same, Nakhwa said, "It's been 24 hours, but the accused haven't been arrested. If a similar crime was committed by any poor man to the rich, then the police would have acted smartly and arrested the accused." On questions of his appeal to the administration, he said, "What justice should I ask for? I lost my wife, my house, and my kids, everything is devastated and shattered. What should I do now? Police say they are searching for him but couldn't find him, but if they want, they could do anything. This is all politics. He is a son of a political leader that's why he has not been arrested. The case will be finished once the session ends and he will not be arrested, it's my guarantee." Meanwhile, the Worli Police today in court, citing CCTV footage said that the accused dragged the deceased for 1.5 km with the car, then stopped the car and separated the deceased woman stuck in the bumper from the car and then took the car back and ran over her and fled.
The police also told the court that after separating the deceased woman stuck in the bumper from the car, the accused Mihir called his father Rajesh. Rajesh, on the call, instructed his son Mihir that you were not driving the car, the car was being driven by a Vidyawat (another arrestee), after which Vidyawat came to the driving seat.
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Earlier, Worli Police on Monday said that Rajesh Shah, the father of Mihir Shah, accused in the hit-and-run case in which a woman died, had made several calls to the 24-year-old after the accident.
Police also said that prior to the incident, Mihir had visited a pub in Juhu with his friends to party and that statements of three of friends who were present with him before the incident have been taken.
The Mumbai Police has formed 14 teams to arrest Mihir Shah who has been missing since he the car he was allegedly driving hit a scooter on Dr Annie Besant Road in Worli. A lookout notice has been issued for Mihir, who is absconding.
Meanwhile, Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde expressed alarm at the "rise in hit-and-run incidents in Maharashtra." He said the guilty will not be spared and directed the police to take action.
"No one, whether rich, influential, or the offspring of bureaucrats or ministers, affiliated with any party, will have immunity as long as I am the Chief Minister of the State. I have zero tolerance for injustice," Shinde said in a post on X.
On July 7, Mihir's father Rajesh Shah and another person Raj Rishi Rajendra Singh Vidawat were arrested for not cooperating with the police.
The 45-year-old woman who was killed in the July 7 incident has been identified as Kaveri Nakhwa, a resident of Worli Koliwada.
She was riding pillion on the scooter driven by her husband, who is undergoing treatment at a hospital for the injuries he sustained during the incident, police said.
"A BMW car ran over two people riding a bike. The woman died in the incident and the other person was injured. The incident took place at 5:30 am when the couple riding a bike were passing in front of the Atria Mall in Worli," a statement from the Mumbai Police detailing the incident read.
The police said that after the incident "the driver fled the spot with his car." "The accident happened when the couple from the fishing community was returning home after buying fish. The husband managed to jump off the speeding vehicle. The woman injured in the accident died during the treatment," police said.
The police also said that the luxury car belonged to the leader of a political party based in Maharashtra's Palghar.
