‘Juhu cop’ visits witness with false Marathi statement, asks her to sign it

Opa bar and cafe in Sakinaka, which the driver and his companions visited before the crash` The bar’s register which records the arrival of the BMW on May 12; Bharti Rai, accident victim

Bharti Rai, a passenger who was in the BMW that crashed into a truck in Juhu on May 12, has alleged that someone claiming to be a cop visited her on May 16 at the Juhu hotel she was staying at and asked her to sign ‘her statement', which was in Marathi and mentioned she was drunk at the time of the incident. There was no mention of the driver, Adhvaryu Bandekar, 27, and co-passenger Ankit Narendra Khare, 38, being in an inebriated state.

Pallavi Pal Bhattacharya, a 29-year-old air-hostess and West Bengal resident, was killed while Bandekar, Rai and Khare were seriously injured after the mishap occurred near the Juhu police station.

The BMW that belonged to Adhvaryu Bandekar's mother, which was wrecked in the May 12 accident. Pic/Sameer Markande

According to the cops, the quartet had partied at a bar and cafe in Sakinaka till 3 am after which Bandekar, a merchant navy professional, decided to drop them to their hotel in his mother's BMW. Bandekar, who was speeding, lost control after coming in contact with a speed breaker, which was not visible in the dark and rammed into a parked garbage van around 3.30 am. The accident was captured in a CCTV camera of the petrol pump. The speed breaker ended right before the petrol pump.

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In the incident, Rai, also an air-hostess, who was sitting in the backseat, received multiple backbone fractures and is currently in Delhi with her family.

Driver discharged

Bandekar was recently discharged from the hospital but the police have not arrested him and are awaiting his blood report to ascertain if he was under the influence of alcohol.

On the day of the incident, Senior Inspector Ajit Vartak of the Juhu police station had told mid-day that Bandekar was drunk at the time of the accident. Rai, 27, alleged that a person identifying as a cop visited her a few days ago and asked her to sign papers, claiming that they contained her statement.

"The person introduced himself as ‘Rahul from the Juhu police station'. I asked him to display his identity card, but he didn't do so. He also said that if I signed the statement I would be eligible for insurance money. The entire document was in Marathi. I got it translated with the help of my friend. It was mentioned in the statement that Bhattacharya and I were drunk but there was no mention of either Adhvaryu or Ankit having consumed alcohol. I was surprised that he had assumed my statement and got a printed copy of it for me to authenticate it. Also, the facts were completely wrong and I had never recorded a statement with the cops in the first place," Rai said.

Horrific night

Recalling the horrifying night, Rai said, "I had come to Mumbai for training and I met Ankit, who is my friend. Ankit and Adhvaryu are friends and this was the second time I met the latter. On May 11, we were in Adhvaryu's car and reached Opa bar and cafe at Sakinaka around 12.30 am. Adhvaryu and Pallavi were drinking at one table and I was with Ankit at another. We also paid separate bills. I saw the glasses on Adhvaryu and Pallavi's table but I am not sure what they
were drinking."

She added, "We left at around 2.30 am. Adhvaryu was speeding. When we reached Juhu, the car was suddenly flung into the air and crashed into a parked truck and auto. We were taken to the hospital by local residents. Pallavi, who was sitting in the front, died. I was admitted to the hospital and after two days, I returned to Delhi. As I had been experiencing back pain, I visited the doctor and it was found that I have multiple fractures in my backbone."

"Before moving to Delhi I received a call from an officer of the Juhu police station and she asked me to give a statement as I was a witness," she stated.

Juhu cops deny sending man

The police are yet to visit Opa to check the bills and CCTV camera footage to verify if Bandekar had been drinking.

When this reporter visited the bar and examined its vehicular register, he learnt that the BMW had arrived at 12.35 am on May 12. When the management was asked to let him look at CCTV camera footage and bills, they declined but said that if the cops approach them, they will provide everything and cooperate with the investigation.

An officer attached to the Juhu police station told mid-day, "We approached Bharti Rai and Ankit Khare to give statements but they refused. We sent Bandekar's blood sample to the Kalina Forensic Laboratory to confirm whether or not he was drunk. The report is still awaited."

Investigation officer PI Dattatray Masvekar of Juhu police station told mid-day, "We didn't send any of our officers to record the statement of Bharti Rai."