Survivor's statement contradicts cops'

The statement given by Milind Salvi, the survivor of the accident that killed his colleague Anup Makharia in the wee hours of Friday, is at odds with the police version. As per his statement, there were four people in the Toyota Corolla that hit their bike.

However, police investigations suggest that there were only two people in the car — Shivani Rane, the vehicle owner’s daughter, and her friend Pratik Shetty, who was driving.The victims’ angry relatives stormed into Borivli police station after they learnt about the incident and raised questions about the police investigations.

“Salvi has seen the people inside the car. How can the police deny his claim by saying there were only two people? After we exerted a lot of pressure, the police assured us that they will re-investigate if there were more people,” said one of Salvi’s relatives present at the police station.

“The police did not even tell us if the driver was drunk or not. They sent him for a medical test six or seven hours after the accident. They delayed the test so that the alcohol would not be detected,” said another relative.

One of Anup’s relatives said that the police did not inform the family about the youngster’s death till 8am. It was Salvi who informed them, he said.

“Anup was the family’s only breadwinner. He had been arranging money for the marriage of his elder sister. His father has retired from service, and his mother is a housewife,” said Anup’s uncle Subhash Dhanuka.