In an incident that brings back bad memories of similar accidents in the past, a 31-year-old businessman drove his car over people sleeping on a footpath along the Western Express Highway near Saidham temple in Kandivli (East), killing one and injuring three.
According to the police, Harish Jain, the businessman, was driving his Tata Indica (MH-02-PA-7327) at high speed and under the influence of alcohol when the incident took place around 1am on Friday.
The deceased, identified as Anjali Munnaswami, 35, was sleeping with her four-year-old daughter Laxmi, 4, on the footpath. Jain, the police said, lost control over his car and ran it over a row of sleeping people. The other two who were injured along with Laxmi have been identified as Valli, 30 and Vijaya Laxi, 25.
“After the incident, however, Jain did not run away. People who were sleeping nearby gathered at the accident spot and contacted the police control room. The Samta Nagar police rushed to the spot as soon as they were informed of the incident. Jain was arrested,” said sub-inspector Anil Alandhe of Samta Nagar police station.
“The police officials with the help of some pavement dwellers rushed the four injured people to Bhagwati Hospital. However, Anjali was declared dead on arrival, while the other three were discharged within in few hours after treatment” said Alandhe.
According to Alandhe, Jain was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol and causing death due to rash and negligent driving. Jain had started from Dahisar and was on his way home at Jawahar Nagar in Goregaon (W). Interestingly, unlike the Alistair Pereira case, wherein he was given police custody on similar charges, Jain was granted judicial custody, after being produced in court.
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