Mumbai: Woman claims someone fired at her vehicle, CCTV doesn't capture bullet

Bandra resident Shabnam Abdul Hamid Sheikh at the petrol pump on SV Road, right after the windshield of her Mercedes Benz cracked

A Bandra resident's claim of a bullet being fired at her car, while she was at a petrol station, has left the police baffled, as CCTV footage from the vicinity does not corroborate her story. While the woman's windshield was shattered in the incident, the police suspect that it was because hot water was used to clean the glass.

According to the police, Shabnam Abdul Hamid Sheikh, 32, a resident of Bandra, had filed a complaint with the Bandra Police yesterday, following a visit to a petrol pump on SV Road, to fill gas in her Mercedes Benz.

The staff had asked Sheikh if she wanted the glass of her car cleaned. When Sheikh told him to go ahead, the man poured water on her car, and began to wipe it. Moments later, Sheikh, who was sitting in her car, heard a cracking sound and found that her glass had shattered.

After examining the car, Sheikh reached Bandra police station, and told the police that someone had fired a bullet on her car, resulting in the glass breaking. After recording her statement, the police registered a case against unknown people under Section 336 (Act endangering life or safety of others) of the Indian Penal Code.

A police officer from the Bandra police station confirmed that a case had been registered.

However, after checking CCTV footage from the petrol station, the police learnt that no such bullet had actually been fired. "Whenever a bullet hits glass, only that particular portion cracks. In this case, the glass cracked from the edges," said a police officer, on condition of anonymity. "We speculate that the glass developed cracks when it was being washed by the worker. The temperature difference between the car and water used to wash it must have caused the crack. We are still investigating the incident," the officer added.

When contacted, Sheikh said, "There were three people in the car, including my daughter and a police guard, when the firing incident took place. As soon as the bullet hit my car, I noticed a man running on the skywalk, situated on the opposite side of the pump station. He managed to escape before we could get hold of him."

Meanwhile, police are also checking CCTV cameras in the vicinity to check if there is any truth to Sheikh's claims.

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