‘Misreading maps landed our boy in this trouble’

Kiran Sunil Patel, the 24-year-old arrested for riding on sea link

The 24-year-old booked for ‘attempt to culpable homicide' forgot to change the option from car to bike on the map before heading out to buy medicines for his father-in-law, said his family. They are now scrambling to collect Rs 20,000 to secure the bail of Kiran Patel, who has been jailed for riding on Bandra-Worli sea link.

Late last month, Kiran Sunil Patel, a resident of Ahmedabad in Gujarat, arrived in Mumbai to visit his ailing 80-year-old father-in-law in Kandivli. Three days later, on April 26, he left home to collect medicines for him from a doctor in Dadar. The doctor sent his location to Kiran, who set it up on Google Maps, said his family members. The default option on the map is for four-wheelers, which he forgot to change to two-wheelers and set out from Kandivli, they said.

The spot on the Bandra-Worli sea link which Kiran had crossed before being asked to take a U-turn. Pic/Atul Kamble

"I was on another bike, and he was ahead, following the map. When we reached Bandra, my brother took the sea link while I was stopped by a police officer," said Kunal Patel, Kiran's brother. His brother-in-law Mehul Mithapara, 17, who was riding pillion with Karan, told mid-day, "When we took the sea link, nobody stopped us. We didn't even know that two-wheelers were not allowed on the sea link. We got a call from Kunal who told us that a police officer had stopped them and told them that bikers weren't allowed on the sea link."

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"Kunal told us that the police had asked us to come back, but we had missed the U-turn near the toll booth. There were only two-three cars on the road, so Karan turned around, but rode on the wrong side only for about 20-30 meters just to get to the right side of the road," Mehul explained.

"After taking the U-turn, we reached a crossing gap and we rode to the right side and went back to the toll naka," he added. The Bandra police arrested him under Section Section 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 279 and 336 of the Indian Penal Code and 184, 179, 190(2),3/181, 4(2)/177(A) of the Motor Vehicle Act. Kiran took the U-turn on the instruction of the police constable who stopped me, Kunal said.

"The sessions court has granted him bail on a bond of R20,000, which we don't have. We are arranging the money by asking the relatives. This is a total misuse of power by the police. First the police constable made him take a U-turn and then the police added Section 308. We pleaded with the police to visit our house once and see the condition of his father-in-law, but they didn't show any mercy," Kunal said, adding that the father-in-law is critical.