Pune police constable test driving an automatic car accidentally accelerates to ram into duo standing at a tea stall in Nerul in Navi Mumbai. He has been arrested by the Nerul police
The spot of the mishap in Nerul. PICs/Sneha Kharabe
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Watchman Shankar Lal Bahadur Vishwakarma (55) and labourer Bhupendra Jagdish Prasad Yogi (45) were only enjoying a cup of tea at a stall on Sunday evening when a speeding car knocked them both down. They succumbed to their injuries on the spot. But in the most damning detail, their life was cut short by none other than a police constable, identified as Ramesh Gulab Karane (32), based with the Manchar police station of Pune gramin police station. He was arrested by the Nerul police, charged under relevant sections of the Motor Vehicles Act and produced in court on Monday.
The car was so badly damaged that the airbag deployed and the front bumper was completely smashed
According to the complainant, Monu Rampahar Saroj, also a watchman, "Yogi was a relative and had come to meet us in the evening at around 6. He was enjoying a cup of tea at the nearby stall outside a, now defunct, cement store."
The incident took place near the entrance gate of Sector 20 Nerul Gaon. "I was in my shop when I heard a loud noise and the walls vibrated. I rushed out to see that the car had rammed into the shop so hard that a part of a wall had collapsed. Two men were also pinned to the front of the car and stuck between the car and the wall," said Dularam Patel, who owns a newspaper scrap business in the adjoining shop.
Accused constable Ramesh Gulab Karane being taken to court
Ashok Rajput, senior police inspector, Nerul police station, said, "The accused was driving Kothari Motor's test drive Swift Desire from Pune to Mumbai. He claims that it was an automatic car so he mistakenly stepped on the accelerator and dashed into the duo at the tea stall. He was arrested from the spot, the case was registered at 9.30 pm and produced in court on Monday."
Sub-inspector EU Tayade added, "The accused claims that he took the car from his friend and had come to meet his wife, who was at her parents' place at the time. He was about to reach the residence, but landed up in jail instead."