Hit-and-run: Driver acquitted as police present evidence-less case

Rajendra Bhandare with his advocate Sunil Pandey on Tuesday

Rajendra Bhandare's life was upended in 2016 when he was arrested over a hit-and-run death. The Matunga resident walked out of jail after a few days, but life wasn't easy all these years. Last week, the Esplanade court acquitted the 39-year-old driver, pointing to glaring holes in the case registered by Azad Maidan police. The court said there wasn't a single witness who had seen the accident.

Bhandare, who worked for a travel company, was taken into custody in December 2016. The police said they found the body of a man in Azad Maidan and took it to GT hospital. Doctors said he had died of injuries after an accident or somebody had run over a vehicle on him.

As per case papers, the Azad Maidan cops arrested Bhandare based on the medical report. They assumed that since his bus was parked near the body, it might have crushed him to death. "I was called to the police station and told to say ‘yes' to every question that cops were asking. Later, I was arrested. After spending a few days in jail, I was released on bail," Bhandare told mid-day.

The Labour Camp resident said he has suffered immensely in these five years. "The truth has prevailed, but it took five years. My life is destroyed as I struggled hard to get the job of a driver because of the police case. I don't know how I managed," said Bhandare.

While the court dropped the charges against Bhandare on February 14, the detailed order was shared on Monday. As per the order, many buses had been parked near gate number 3 of Azad Maidan.

The police said they found bloodstains on a tyre of Bhandare's bus. In the panchnama, documentation done at the spot, a witness claimed to have seen the bloodstains. But during the cross-examination, the witness denied it. He also said that he signed on the panchnama at the police station.

In his order, Magistrate Hemant Joshi said, "Not a single witness have been produced by defence who have seen the accident, the police is relying only on the circumstances and they have not done any investigation on other vehicles which were parked there at that time."

Despite the presence of many vehicles in Azad Maidan, the court observed, the cops didn't probe the angle that the accident might have been caused by a vehicle other than Bhandare's bus.

While the police had claimed that there was a call recording between Bhandare and his employer about the accident, they never produced it in the court. With the police having nothing concrete against Bhandare, the case fell flat.

"The police just wanted to close the case and that is why they framed my client who was driving the bus and on that faithful day his bus was parked there," said advocate Sunil Pandey, who represented Bhandare.

Pandey said, "It is proven that my client was falsely implicated in the matter and also the whole burden was put on his shoulders. There was no substantive piece of evidence against accused and there were no eyewitnesses or any incriminating substance against him…the prosecution was not able to bring photos of the stamp of mud on which blood was seen and there was no CCTV. The police must investigate and find who is the real culprit or are the police trying to shield someone else?"

How case fell flat

. No witnesses who had seen the accident
. Panch witness says he signed on the panchnama at police station
. No forensic evidence against the driver
. Cops fail to produce photos of bloodstains on the bus' rear tyre as claimed by them
. Cops claim they had a call recording between Bhandare and his employer about the accident, but fail to produce it
. Court says cops didn't probe the possibility of involvement other vehicles parked at the spot