28-year-old notices the rat writhing in pain on the Bandra-Worli Sea Link and swerves to the left; but, a speeding car that overtook his vehicle causes him to lose control and hecrashes into the divider
Being an animal lover has cost Gaurav Ujjanwal hard, when it led him to drive a luxury vehicle into the divider on the Bandra-Worli Sea Link. The incident occurred around 9.30 am yesterday, when Ujjanwal was on his way to Bandra-Kurla Complex (BKC) from south Mumbai.
Ujjanwal was driving a Mercedes Kompressor C200, which is worth Rs 40 lakh. Suddenly, he noticed a rather large rat on the road the animal had already been run over by another car earlier and was writhing in pain. In order to avoid it, he swerved sharply to the left.
Almost immediately, he was overtaken closely by another car at a high speed and in the process of trying to avoid a collision with the vehicle, he lost control and banged into the divider on the sea link. "I noticed the rat in agony and did what I could to save it. I'm an animal lover and didn't want it to get hurt further. When I tried to veer away from both the animal and the overtaking car, I lost control and drove into the divider," said Ujjanwal.
Gaurav Ujjanwal shows the busted front portion of his boss's Mercedes, which he rammed into a divider to save a rat. Pic/Satyajit Desai
The vehicle belongs to his boss, and he has been driving it for the past one year. Ujjanwal later went to the Worli police station and explained the whole incident. "I have also informed my boss, and he hasn't said anything to me yet," added the driver, who says he was driving at a speed of 60-70 kmph.
Repair work will cost around Rs 4-5 lakh. "I will be getting the work done," he told MiD DAY. But, it is unclear whether he has to pay for the repairs, as his superior hasn't yet asked him to shell out the money. However, he's proud he at least didn't run over the animal.
"I don't know how someone drove over the rat, since it was quite big. I'm glad I didn't cause it more pain. I can get a good night's sleep," he stated. The Worli police confirmed the incident. Police inspector Uttam Bhapkar, who is the investigating officer, said, "According to the statement, the accident was caused due to the rat."
