Drunk Mumbai cop mows down 4-year-old in Nashik

Two days before her birthday, a four-year-old girl was crushed to death by a car driven by a Mumbai-based police officer in Nashik on Wednesday evening. The officer was allegedly under the influence of alcohol when the accident took place.

Police said the incident occurred around 7.30pm when the victim, Shubhada Gaikar, was walking on the road along with her parents at Dattanagar near Fame Multiplex on the Nashik-Pune road.

The family of three had gone to take a photograph at a nearby studio for Shubhada’s birthday. When the three were walking by the side of the road, a speeding Santro car (MH-15-AE-3199) hit Shubhada and her parents. The girl was dragged for some distance and was crushed between the car and an electric pole, the police said.

The car was driven by Vasant Laxman Pawar, an assistant police inspector attached to the Cuffe Parade police station in Mumbai. Pawar, who was going to his home at Bodhale Nagar in Nashik, was so drunk that he had to be dragged out of the car by the locals, the police added.

“After the incident, an irate mob gathered near the accident spot and beat up Pawar. His car was also damaged,” said a police officer. The girl and her parents were immediately rushed to a nearby hospital, but the girl was declared brought dead by doctors. Her parents sustained injuries. Pawar was arrested by the Upnagar police. A case of culpable homicide has been lodged against him.

Pawar was produced before a Nashik court on Thursday. It remanded him in judicial custody.