Police jeep mows down courier firm employee

A speeding police jeep knocked down a young man, killing him, while he was standing at a bus stop yesterday morning. Kalwa resident Sachin Padvankar (34), was on his way to his office at Hometown on LBS road in Vikhroli (W), where he works as a back-office executive for a courier company.

Death drive: The driver of the police vehicle that knocked down (above) Sachin Padvankar has been arrested for rash driving

The incident took place at 7.30 am near Parksite area in Vikhroli and, according to a witness, after knocking down Padvankar, the jeep dragged him a few feet and crashed into a stationary tempo.

The impact was so hard that tempo was set in motion and it crashed into a tree.

"The victim was standing near the bus stand when the police jeep hit him and then crashed into my tempo," said Rajkumar Mishra, tempo driver. "My tempo's windshield was also damaged in the accident and I have incurred a loss of Rs 15,000," he added.

Padvankar was rushed to Rajawadi hospital by cops, stated Mishra, and was pronounced dead by doctors on arrival.

According to police, the jeep driver, constable Kishan Darade (49), has been arrested for rash and negligent driving.

"We have arrested Darade and he has been booked under sections pertaining to rash and negligent driving and putting lives of others in danger," said Mahesh Ghure, deputy commissioner of police, Zone VII.

"I told the cops that if they didn't tell me the truth we would not claim the body. Earlier, they told me that my brother died because of an electric shock," said Rajnish Padvankar, elder brother of the deceased.

Police stated that Darade, two constables, and an assistant police inspector, were returning from an anti-chain snatching operation when the incident took place.

Cops also claimed that they carried out a medical test on Darade to determine if he was under the influence of alcohol, but results were negative.u00a0