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Mumbai: Even well more than 24 hours after Worli hit-and-run horror, the Mumbai police has been unable to trace accused Mihir Shah (24). He is apparently in hiding so that the alcohol level in his blood is not detected when he surrenders or is caught. Sources said the Borivli-resident he had consumed four bottles of beer at the Global Tapas Bar on Juhu Tara Road before heading to Marine Drive with a driver.
On his return, his BMW limousine collided with the rear of a scooter at Worli. The woman in the pillion seat Kaveri Nakhwa (45) was thrown down and her saree was caught in the front wheel of the car, while her husband Pradeep (50) found himself on the bonnet of the speeding four-wheeler. For almost 2 kms Mihir Shah dragged the couple along with his car before stopping.
While Mihir is still absconding, his father Rajesh Shah, who is a member of the Shiv Sena led by chief minister Eknath Shinde was granted bail by a court observing that the charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder is not applicable to him.
The accident took place at around 5:30 am on Sunday, where Mihir lost the control of the car and rammed it into Nakhwa's two wheeler. She was with her husband Pradip. The car was allegedly driven by Mihir, the police said.
The sources from the police investigation said, Mihir went to the bar with friends between around 11.30 pm with driver Rajrishi Bidawat to party. The sources said he left from the bar at around 1.30 am after making a bill of Rs 18000. On Monday the bar however remained closed for citing 'operational reasons'.
The sources claimed that after the accident on the advice of his father, Mihir absconded. The police said that,”after the accident took place, the prime accused Mihir called up his father and then Rajesh told the driver Bidawat and Mihir to exchange the seats”. This the sources claimed that this was to implicate driver in the accident case.
As Mihir was not traced, police arrested Rajesh and driver Bidawat for not cooperating in the case. The two were produced before the Metropolitan Magistrate court on Monday. The police sought their custody for interrogation.
The prosecution while arguing the case produced CCTV footage showing how the car dragged the woman for about 1.5 kms. Further more, The woman was disengaged from the car, and again mowed over while taking reverse gear.
The police said after the incident when Mihir called up his father Rajesh, the latter advised him to escape from the spot and ask the driver to take responsibility for the accident. The police also showed the CCTV footage of the exchange of the seats. The prosecution claimed that Rajesh was aware of the whereabouts of the accused and needs to be interrogated about the incident.
The plea was opposed by the defence lawyer Sudhir Bhardwaj, who argued that "son is missing, is that a reason to arrest his father? Is it not normal for an accused to call his father when in panic?" It was further contended that the charges for culpable homicide are not applicable against Rajesh as he was not driving the car or present on the spot. As for the driver, the defence said, nothing is to be recovered from him and his custodial interrogation is not needed.
After hearing the defence and prosecution the metropolitan magistrate S.P. Bhosale of the Sewri court accepted the defence arguments and said the charges of culpable homicide is not made out against Rajesh Shah and remanded him to jail custody. However, Rajrishi was sent to to police custody for a day. Soon after, Shah was remanded to judicial custody, his lawyer moved a bail plea, which too was allowed.
