Hit and run: SUV fatally knocks down rickshaw driver, injures his friend in Mumbai

In another hit-and-run case in Maharashtra, an autorickshaw driver was killed and his friend injured when an SUV ran over them while they were sleeping on Versova beach in Mumbai, police said on Wednesday. The incident took place in the early hours of Monday, after which the driver of the sports utility vehicle (SUV) fled the scene without rendering any help to the victims, they said.

The driver of the SUV and another occupant of the vehicle were arrested.

Rickshaw driver Ganesh Yadav and his friend Bablu Shrivastava were sleeping on the beach as they were feeling hot in their room near the Sagar Kutir Rahivasi Sangh slum, an official from Versova police station said.

Shrivastava was woken up by a violent blow to his head and hand, after which he saw a car driving over Yadav, who was sleeping next to him on a mat. Later, Shrivastava lost consciousness, he said.

The SUV driver Nikhil Jawle (34) and his friend Shubham Dongre (33), who was also in the vehicle, fled the scene without providing medical aid to the victims, the official said.

A local resident had noted down the number of the SUV as it entered the beach through a narrow lane. Using this information, the police learnt that the car was registered in the name of Satish S in Nagpur, the official said. Within three hours of the incident, the two occupants of the SUV were arrested from Igatpuri in neighbouring Nashik district, he said.

During investigation, police found that the driver of the SUV was a resident of Nagpur and his friend was from Navi Mumbai.

They reached Mumbai to meet Yadav’s friend at Versova and wish him luck for his cousin’s wedding. They had brought the SUV from Nagpur and reached here after stopping at Lonavala in neighbouring Pune district, the official said.

Police have taken blood samples from the SUV driver and his friend and sent them for forensic tests to determine whether they were under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident, he said.

An FIR has been registered against the duo under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including manslaughter not amounting to murder, the official said.

They were presented before a local court on Tuesday, which sent them to police custody for five days, he said.

“We are conducting further investigation into this matter,” the official added.

A series of hit-and-runs have recently been reported in this case.

On July 7, a woman was killed in Mumbai’s Worli area after a BMW car hit a two-wheeler she was travelling on and dragged her for 1.5 km, police said earlier.

According to police, three people, including the son of a Shiv Sena politician, have been arrested in connection with the incident.

The same night, a policeman was killed when a car rammed into the motorcycle of two policemen on patrol in Pune’s Khadki area.

In another hit-and-run on July 7, a 23-year-old man was killed after an unidentified vehicle hit him in the city of Nagpur.

On July 9, a 31-year-old woman was killed after she was hit by a speeding car in Nashik city. The driver of the car, who was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident, fled the scene. He was later arrested.

On February 25, a woman driving her Mercedes, allegedly under the influence of alcohol, hit two men riding a scooter on the Ram Jhula bridge in Nagpur. Both the drivers died after the accident.

The woman surrendered to police on July 1, more than four months after the accident, and was subsequently arrested. On July 2, a court ordered her release, calling her arrest unlawful.