Mumbai: Biker, rickshaw driver booked in hit-and-run case after 75-year-old woman dies

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The MHB Colony Police have booked a biker and an auto-rickshaw driver in a hit-and-run case involving a 75-year-old woman. The duo abandoned the woman in an injured condition in the Naigaon area in Vasai East after assuring locals they would take her to a hospital for medical assistance which later led to her death.

The officials said that the accident took place on May 30 near a bridge at Dahisar East. However, the accused biker, instead of informing the police, abandoned her near Naigaon with the help of the rickshaw driver.

Meanwhile, the relatives of the woman began a search for her; when they could not find her, they registered a missing persons' complaint at Borivali Police Station the same day. On June 1, the police informed them that an unknown woman's dead body was found in Vasai East. The relatives rushed there and identified her.

The complainant, Ganesh Jambule (25), grandson of the deceased woman, works as a driver and lives with his family in Borivali's Shimpoli. The deceased, Lakshmi Kamla Sayani (75), often stayed with him and his uncle. Jambule said she often would leave the house in the mornings to sometimes beg for alms and return later in the evening.

On May 30, she left the house and did not return by late night, said the grandson and added that the family went out to look for her. They had also reached the spot of the accident and the locals informed them about the incident and said that a biker and auto-rickshaw driver had taken her to a hospital or medical centre.

"We checked nearby private as well as government hospitals but did not find her. On June 1, we received a call from Borivali police, informing us they had found a body matching the description of my grandmother at Mauje Shilottar on the Kaman-Bhiwandi highway. On June 2, the body was sent to Nalasopara Hospital for post-mortem. I reached Naigaon and identified my grandmother," Jambule said.

Based on Jambule's statement, the Naigaon police registered the case under various sections of the IPC and transferred the case for further investigation to the MHB police, said an officer from the MHB police station.

"We have registered the case under sections 201, 304(a), 279, 337, and 338 of the IPC and various sections of the Motor Vehicle Act. We are searching for the unidentified motorbike rider and the auto driver," said Senior Inspector Sudhir Kudalkar from MHB police station.