Why no murder charges, asks Worli hit-and-run case victim’s family

Mihir Shah

As the police have failed to press murder charges in the Worli hit-and-run case, the victim's family is planning to file a writ petition in the Bombay High Court. The charge sheet, filed on October 2, reveals that the family of the accused conspired to protect him on the day of the accident. Due to the misleading information provided by the family, the police were delayed by 17 minutes in arresting Mihir Shah, one of the main accused. mid-day has gained access to the charge sheet, which confirms that the Worli police were 17 minutes late in reaching the spot where Mihir was hiding. Since the incident, the police have recorded statements of 54 witnesses.

Mihir Shah leaving the Sewri court on July 16. File Pic/Shadab Khan

On July 7, Mihir Shah's BMW car rammed Pradeep Nakhwa and his wife Kaveri near Atria mall in Worli. While Pradeep suffered minor injuries, Kaveri was dragged for nearly 3 km by Mihir's driver Rajrishi Bidawat who didn't stop after the collision. Kaveri later succumbed to her injuries. According to the charge sheet, Mihir and Bidawat are the main accused. Mihir's father Rajesh, a former leader of the Eknath Shinde Sena faction, and the entire family was aware of the accident soon after it occurred.

The charge sheet also revealed that after the accident, Mihir made 64 unanswered calls to his female friend, Kushi Shah, before arriving at her Goregaon residence to tell her about the incident. He then slept there. Kushi later informed Pooja, Mihir's sister, who subsequently arrived to pick him up. By 10.20 am, Kinjal (Mihir's sister) and Rajesh had dropped off Mihir and Pooja near Borivli. When the police arrived at Kinjal's residence at 10.37 am, Mihir had already fled.

Pooja advised Mihir to return home and then go to the police station, as their father Rajesh had been detained by the police. Panicked, Mihir jumped out of a moving rickshaw near the Western Express Highway and fled. After that, he roamed around the city looking for a safe place to hide. On the same day, Rajesh and driver Bidawat reached Kalanagar Junction and hired a private towing vehicle to retrieve the damaged car. However, the Worli police intercepted them and took possession of the vehicle.

Meanwhile, Pooja returned home and the family hatched a plan to flee. On July 8, some relatives drove them in an Audi car to a resort in Yeoor, Thane. The family later fled to the Mashallah Allah Resort in Shahapur on July 9, where they were detained by the Crime Branch. Despite this, the family claimed they did not know Mihir's whereabouts.

Hasan Shah, the owner of the resort, provided a statement to the police revealing that he received a call from an unknown number asking him to accommodate the Shah family. Hasan agreed and later inquired about Mihir, but the family claimed ignorance about his location. Hasan also received another call informing him that Rajesh had been released. On the same day, the police arrested Mihir from Vasai Naka. He had trimmed his hair and had shaved the beard to prevent the arrest.