Preliminary investigations by Mumbai police officials have revealed that Mihir Shah, the main accused in the BMW hit-and-run case and son of a Shiv Sena politician, was drunk at the time of the accident—as his luxury car rammed into a motorbike, killing one woman. Elaborate reconstruction of the accident scene was conducted at the wee hours by police to reconstruct what happened during the mishap. During this process, Mihir Shah, 24, was brought face-to-face with his family chartered car driver and co-accused Rajrishi Bidawat, who was in the car at the time of the fatal collision in Mumbai's Worli area.
Later, he was produced before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate S P Bhosale after the end of his police remand and has been remanded to 14-day judicial custody.
According to police reports, immediately after the collision, Bidawat was said to switch places with Mihir Shah, at the behest of his father, Rajesh Shah, a prominent politician. The cops sought an extension for investigating custody of Bidawat, which the court refused and remanded him to jail instead.
The incident happened at 5.30 a.m. on Sunday when Mihir Shah allegedly rammed his BMW into a two-wheeler on Anni Besant Road, Worli. It killed Kaveri Nakhwa, 45, and left her husband Pradip injured. Shah drove off to the Bandra-Worli Sea Link with the victim initially on the car's bonnet and later getting caught under its wheels for over 1.5 km.
The main accused was arrested in Palghar district and has been remanded in police custody till July 16, where he is currently being questioned by Worli police officials. An official said, "Preliminary investigation has revealed that he was drunk at the time of incident. Reconstruction of the crime scene was necessary to know more about the entire incident."
He said, "Mihir Shah and Bidawat were quizzed in front of each other to clarify the sequence of events of the incident.".
Mihir Shah, his father Rajesh Shah, and the driver of the vehicle, Bidawat, have been arrayed as accused in the case, charged under various sections, including 105 of the IPC for culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
While Rajesh Shah was released on bail following his arrest, during the remand extension hearing of Bidawat, the police told the court that Mihir Shah had purchased four beer cans from a bar at Malad a few minutes before the accident and that custody of Bidawat was needed to recover them.
"The involvement of the accused is the prima facie," the police told the court.
The court was also told that in custodial interrogation, both Mihir Shah and Bidawat separately confessed to their role in the incident. Police also revealed that Mihir Shah had driven the car himself from Girgaon to the Worli Sea Link entry point where collision occurred.
Prosecutors sought extension of custody of Bidawat as investigations into the case were underway and the registration number plate of the BMW was yet to be recovered.
Opposing counsel opposed the extension and contended that the investigation in the case was already complete, and also there was no need to detained both the accuse, as the recovered beer cans had already been taken into custody.
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