A family of five – two men, two women, and a child – narrowly escaped death early Sunday morning when their WagonR was hit by a BMW and a Mercedes engaged in a high-speed race on Bandra-Worli Sea Link. The luxury cars first collided with each other before crashing into the WagonR.
The drivers of both cars have been arrested and booked for “attempt to commit culpable homicide” under the non-bailable section 110 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. They have also been booked for rash driving, endangering human life, causing obstruction on a public way, and violations under the Motor Vehicle Act.
The drivers have been identified as Tariq Chaudhary, 29, and Shahabaz Khan, 31, residents of Kurla and Mumbai Central, respectively. According to the police, the two met in south Mumbai and decided to go for coffee, heading toward Bandra. Driving their Mercedes and BMW, they reached the Sea Link and decided to “race for fun” on the empty road.
Chaudhary and Khan planned to race at 120kmph along the entire 5.6km stretch. The WagonR, driven by Nishar Ahmed, was on way to Bandra from Worli and became an unfortunate third vehicle caught between the two speeding cars.
The first collision occurred between the Mercedes and BMW. “Both cars collided while racing. After the impact, the BMW spun out of control and struck the WagonR,” said a senior police officer. “Given the VVIP movement at the time, several police vans and personnel were already stationed on the stretch. As soon as we received the alert, we reached the scene within two minutes and promptly rescued the victims, sending them to the hospital.”
The drivers of the BMW and Mercedes sustained minor injuries and were also taken to the hospital. After their medical examination, they were arrested. The other victims are stable and said to be recovering.
