13 April,2022 08:00 AM IST | Mumbai | Diwakar Sharma
The drunk driver
Two people were killed and two injured when the heavily drunk driver of an electric car created havoc speeding in Cuffe Parade on Tuesday. The incident took place at 1.50 pm and one of the victims he hit died on the spot while another passed away in hospital. The police have arrested the driver.
The accused, later identified as Mukesh Pradeep Singh, 38, was driving a red electric car near the World Trade Centre in south Mumbai at a high speed, said a witness. One of the two deceased, Prasenjit Gautam Dhadse, 36, was the head clerk in the Navi Mumbai police commissionerate, while the other worked in a private bank. Dhadse had come to Mumbai on official visit, said police.
"One of the victims, Asif Shaikh, was standing near Gate number 4 of WTC to cross the road but the speeding car dashed into him. However that did not stop the driver," said an officer attached to Cuffe Parade police station. "Soon, the drunk driver dashed two more people on the road. The driver continued to drive recklessly and then dashed a stationed taxi from the rear," said the officer.
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"The impact on the taxi was so severe that it started to roll and crushed a man to death. There was no one in the taxi. The deceased was identified as Prasenjit Dhadse," said Sandesh Revale, senior inspector, Cuffe Parade police station. Sujay Kumar Vishwas, 35, was the other deceased. The other injured person was identified as Nitesh Kumar Mandal, 43.
"After the first accident, people started to chase the car, but the driver did not stop. We realized that he was drunk. After the last accident, he stopped the car and the people thrashed him brutally," said a local shop owner. "The furious people tore his clothes," said another witness.
The car
The police told mid-day that the owner of the car is a businessman. "The businessman told us that his regular driver was on leave and so he had asked Singh to drive him to south Mumbai," said a police officer. Singh has been booked under relevant sections of IPC and Motor Vehicle Act by the Cuffe Parade police. The car has been seized for further investigations.