Reckless Driving Claims Lives Across Mumbai As City Sees Multiple Fatal Crashes

Mumbai: The Gamdevi police have arrested a Mercedes driver for allegedly fatally running over a footpath dweller near Chowpatty. On the evening of July 31, the accused, Kamlesh Jha, 39, was attempting to park the vehicle when the incident took place.

He allegedly fled the scene without offering medical assistance to the victim, Jagdish, 45, alias Jaggu. Later, Parvati Kaliyan, a BMC sanitation worker who knew Jaggu for over 25 years, filed a police complaint. She said that her supervisor told her on August 1 that Jaggu had been found unconscious near the Oriental Club, where he had been sleeping after consuming alcohol.

Kaliyan said that she later learned from a security guard that around 7 pm on July 31, a white Mercedes, driven recklessly, hit Jaggu on his chest while he was asleep. Police nabbed Jha based on the CCTV footage. He was later granted bail.

About Other Cases

In another bizarre case of an accident, a 66-year-old auto driver allegedly fatally knocked down a 28-year-old pedestrian and hit three others, while transporting the victim to a hospital. The accused, Jallindar Bhimaji Dongre, a resident of Vikhroli West, has been booked for reckless driving and overspeeding.

According to the police, on August 2, Dongre hit Manoj Goud, who was standing at the signal on the Jogeshwari-Vikhroli Link Road (JVLR). Police head constable Jyoti Ramesh Gite,49, who was on duty at the time, along with a traffic warden, rushed a severely-injured Goud to Mahatma Jyotiba Phule Hospital in Dongre's rickshaw. He allegedly continued driving recklessly and struck three more pedestrians, who suffered minor injuries. Upon arrival at the hospital, Goud was declared dead.

In a hit-and-run, a 40-year-old plumber was mowed down by a motorcycle in Santacruz West. The incident occurred on August 1 when Ganesh Shah was crossing the road near SNDT College and was hit by a biker, resulting in critical injuries. He was admitted to Cooper Hospital and discharged after initial treatment. However, the next day, he complained of difficulty in breathing. His family rushed him back to Cooper Hospital, where he was declared dead. The police are trying to nab the biker.

Three collegians were injured in two separate accidents after their bikes were struck by a speeding cab and an auto on Sunday. At around 2.30pm, Rakesh Jagtap, 22, a computer science student from Goregaon, was riding towards the Jogeshwari railway station when a speeding auto rammed into his bike. With injuries to hand and elbow, Jagtap managed to reach Trauma Care Hospital. The auto driver remains at large.

An hour apart on the same day, Yamin Hussain, a BSc student, and his friend Ishan Rana, both aged 19, were thrown off their bike after a speeding cab took a sudden U-turn in Bandra. Locals rushed the teens to a hospital and nabbed the driver, Rajesh Shah, 24.