The 24-year-old accused in the Mumbai BMW hit-and-run case Mihir Shah and his driver have admitted to crashing the car into a two-wheeler which led to the death of a 45-year-old woman, police officials said.
However, he did not tell the police from which point he started driving or when he stopped but admitted to abandoning the car at Kala Nagar, after which he fled from the spot fearing public outrage, a police officer said. The family members who have been detained also said they left their homes fearing the same.
Shah also said he is worried about his career as it was over because of the incident and that he made a big mistake.
Both Shah and his driver, Rajrishi Rajendrasingh Bidawat, were interrogated by the police on July 11 where they recreated the sequence of events at the accident site.
The 30-year-old driver who was arrested soon after the accident and was held till July 11, has now been sent to 14-day judicial custody.
The police have claimed that Shah and his driver had bought beer from a Malad bar and drank it inside the car after leaving the Juhu bar.
Although Shah admitted to the crash, both he and the driver denied knowing that a woman was stuck under the car as they drove away after hitting the two-wheeler.
Early on July 7, Shah was allegedly driving his BMW in a drunken state with his driver sitting beside him, when he rammed the luxury car into a two-wheeler carrying a middle-aged couple. Kaveri Nakhwa was riding pillion with her husband Pradeep Nakhwa on Annie Besant Road around 5:30 am when the BMW hit their scooter from behind.
Soon after the accident, Shah went into hiding on the advice of his politician father, Rajesh Shah. He was arrested on July 9 from an apartment in Maharashtra's Virar area, about 65 kilometers from Mumbai, after evading arrest for nearly 72 hours.
His father, an accused in the crime was sacked by Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde from the post of deputy leader of the Shiv Sena’s Palghar district.
Shah is currently in police custody until July 16 and his mother and two sisters have been detained. His father, who was earlier arrested by the police for helping the accused flee was later released on bail.
All three accused, Mihir Shah, Rajesh Shah and Bidawat, have been charged under several provisions of the new criminal code of Bharat Nyay Sanhita (BNS). Rajesh was granted bail because the court felt the charge of culpable homicide did not apply to him.
Shah, who was absconding for nearly three days made several attempts to evade arrest including getting a makeover.
According to the police, Mihir Shah changed his look by shaving his beard and getting a haircut as eyewitness accounts said he was sporting a beard when he left a bar in Juhu on the night of July 6. However, when police arrested him from an apartment in Virar, he was clean-shaven.
“As he went into hiding, he thought we had his latest picture in which he had a fully grown beard. So to mislead us and also to evade arrest, he shaved off his beard and also got a haircut assuming that we would not be able to recognise him,” an officer was quoted as saying by a leading national daily.
“We are trying to identify the barber as we want to record his statement as well," the police said.
Meanwhile, the pub where Shah was allegedly served alcohol was razed by the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on July 10 as part of broader efforts to enforce regulations and penalize establishments that violate laws.
Authorities reported that the bar had been operating in contravention of several regulations, leading to this severe action.
Despite being an underage as per the state regulations in Maharashtra, Shah was served alcohol because he presented a fake identity card in which his age was shown as 27, the pub authorities claimed. Three of his friends who went to the pub with him are over 30 years old.
In India, the legal drinking age varies by state, with most states setting it at either 18 or 21 years old. Interestingly, in Maharashtra, while the minimum age to purchase alcohol is 18, the minimum age to consume it is 25.
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