In a very short span after he rammed a couple on a scooter with his BMW, killing the woman who was riding pillion, Mihir Shah spoke to his girlfriend 40 times before abandoning the car, hailing an auto and heading to her house. Police said the girlfriend may now be detained for questioning.
The 24-year-old son of a Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde faction) leader crashed his BMW into a scooter in Worli in which Pradeep Nakhwa and Kaveri Nakhwa, a fish-seller couple, were returning around 5.30 am on Sunday after buying fish to sell during the day. While Pradeep was flung off the bonnet after the car hit him, Kaveri came under the wheels and was dragged for 1.5 km.
Shah, who was allegedly drunk. then switched seats with his driver, Rajrishi Bidawat, and they reversed the car over Kaveri before speeding away. Shah and the driver then went to Kala Nagar in Bandra, where they abandoned the car and took off the number plate to avoid being caught.
While all this was happening, an official said, Shah called and spoke to his girlfriend 40 times.
Evading Arrest
After leaving the car in Kala Nagar, the 24-year-old hailed an auto and went to his girlfriend’s house in Goregaon. Police said he “rested” there for two hours while his girlfriend informed Shah’s sister about the accident. His sister went to Goregaon and then took Shah to their house in Borivali.
From there, Shah’s mother, Meena, two sisters – Puja and Kinjal – and a friend, Avdeep, left for a resort in Shahpur, nearly 70 km from Mumbai. They hid there while the police kept looking for Shah, having arrested his father Rajesh Shah and the driver, Bidawat.
On Monday night, Shah left for the family’s house in Virar and, the next morning, Avdeep turned on his phone for 15 minutes, revealing his location. This led to Shah’s arrest.
While Shah was produced in court on Wednesday and sent to police custody till July 16, police said they may also detain his girlfriend to question her. An official said the questions will centre around what information about the accident was shared with her by Shah, and whether he was drunk when he spoke to her and met her.
‘Guilty Won’t Be Spared’
The Worli hit-and-run, which came close on the heels of the Pune Porsche accident, has led to questions being asked of the government. While the juvenile is on the Porsche case is on bail after killing two 24-year-old techies, Mihir Shah also managed to evade the police for 72 hours.
In both cases, the opposition has alleged that the accused have links to people in the state government, which is being run by a coalition of the Eknath Shinde faction of the Shiv Sena, the BJP, and the Ajit Pawar-led faction of the NCP.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has, however, maintained that the guilty will not be spared and the police will not shield anyone. Rajesh Shah, who was the deputy leader of the Shiv Sena in the Palghar district, was suspended from his post on Wednesday.