Mumbai hit-and-run case: Won't let influential persons manipulate system, says CM Eknath Shinde

Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde. File Pic

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde expressed his "alarm" at the "rise in hit-and-run incidents" in the State on Monday and said that he has directed the police to take strict action against such cases, adding that the "guilty will not be spared."

"I have directed the State Police department to handle these cases with the utmost seriousness and ensure justice is served. In addition, we are implementing stricter laws and harsher penalties for hit-and-run offenders," Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde said in a post on his social media platform X today.

He said it was "intolerable" that "the powerful and influential misuse their status to manipulate the system. Such miscarriages of justice will not be tolerated by my Government."

Shinde said, "The lives of the ordinary citizens are precious to us. I have directed the State Police Department to handle these cases with the utmost seriousness and ensure justice is served. In addition, we are implementing stricter laws and harsher penalties for hit-and-run offenders.

He added that the administration is working to provide justice to the victims and their families. "No one, whether rich, influential or the offspring of bureaucrats or ministers, affiliated with any party, will have the immunity as long as I am the Chief Minister of the State. I have zero tolerance for justice," Shinde said.

"Let it be clear: my administration stands firmly with the victims and their families. We are committed to creating a safer Maharashtra for all its citizens," the Maharashtra Chief Minister said.

The Mumbai Police has formed 14 teams to arrest Mihir Shah who has been missing since the car he was allegedly driving hit a scooter on Dr Annie Besant Road in Worli on Sunday. A lookout notice has been issued for Mihir, who is absconding, after the Mumbai hit-and-run case. On July 7, Mihir's father Rajesh Shah and another person Raj Rishi Rajendra Singh Vidawat were arrested for not cooperating with the police, reported news agency ANI.

The 45-year-old woman who was killed in the Mumbai hit-and-run case has been identified as Kaveri Nakhwa, a resident of Worli Koliwada. She was riding pillion on the scooter driven by her husband, who is undergoing treatment at a hospital for the injuries he sustained during the incident, police said.

"A BMW car ran over two people riding a bike. The woman died in the incident and the other person was injured. The incident took place at 5:30 am when the couple riding a bike were passing in front of the Atria Mall in Worli," a statement from the Mumbai Police detailing the incident read, reported ANI.

The police said that after the incident "the driver fled the spot with his car."

"The accident happened when the couple from the fishing community was returning home after buying fish. The husband managed to jump off the speeding vehicle. The woman injured in the accident died during the treatment," police said, reported ANI.

The police also said that the luxury car belonged to the leader of a political party based in Maharashtra's Palghar.

The incident in Worli follows less than two months after the Pune case in which A Porsche car allegedly driven by a 17-year-old boy allegedly under the influence of alcohol rammed into a motorbike resulting in the deaths of two software engineers in Pune's Kalyani Nagar area in the early hours of May 19, reported ANI.

(With inputs from ANI)