Hindustan Times ST (Mumbai) - HT Navi Mumbai Live
3 killed, 4 injured in Palghar in drunk driving case
Three pedestrians were killed, and four others were seriously injured after a mini tempo hit them at highspeed at Shirish Phata along the Wada Bhiwandi Road on Thursday night.
The police have arrested the tempo driver, identified as Anand Mendhikar, 24 and suspect he was under the influence of alcohol.
The accident occurred around 8.30pm and the police said Mendhikar increased the speed of the vehicle to escape from the rush hour crowd and ended up hitting a motorcycle and then a pedestrian.
Officials said the pedestrian, Ajinkya Ramchandra Berde, 35, and the biker, Ashok Rupaji Kalingada 36 died on the spot. Ashok’s wife, Alka Ashok Kalingada, 32, died in a Thane hospital while being treated for the injuries.
After hitting Ashok’s bike, the speeding tempo hit two
more motorcycles and injured four others before it was halted by the crowd at Neheroli Phata on Bhiwandi Road – around 3 km from the spot of the incident.
The crowd caught the accused and handed him over to the Wada Police.
The injured are identified as
Ajit Ashok Kalingade, 14, Hitesh Tukaram Bendkoli, 21, Madhav Balu Savala, 45 and Baluram Dagadu Pachalkar, 28. All the injured are being treated at different private hospitals in Wada.
The accused Anand Mendhikar has been arrested and remanded in four days of police custody, said a police officer attached to the Wada police station.
He has been booked under sections 304(II) (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 279 (rash driving on a public way), 336 (act endangering life), 337 (causing hurt by act endangering the life of others), 338 (causing grievous hurt by an act endangering the life of others) of the Indian Penal Code and Sections 184 (offence aimed to deter individuals from engaging in reckless driving that endangers life), 134(A) (failing to render emergency medical and non-medical care to the injured), 134(B) (failure to report the incident to the police station) of the Motor Vehicles Act.