BMW hit-and-run: Shiv Sena leader's son Mihir Shah was drunk at time of crash, say Mumbai cops

Mumbai, July 11

Mihir Shah, the main accused in the BMW hit-and-run case and son of a Shiv Sena politician, was under the influence of alcohol when he allegedly rammed his luxury car into a two-wheeler here, killing a woman, a Mumbai police official said on Thursday.

A probe team of the police recreated the accident scene in the early hours of the day to get more information about the chain of events and also confronted Mihir Shah (24) with his family driver and co-accused Rajrishi Bidawat, who was in the car at the time of the horrific crash in central Mumbai’s Worli area.

A woman, Kaveri Nakhwa (45), was killed and her husband Pradip injured after their two-wheeler was hit from the rear by a BMW allegedly driven by Mihir Shah at 5:30am on Sunday in Worli’s arterial Anni Besant Road.

The probe has found that Mihir Shah sped off towards the Bandra Worli Sea Link even as the woman remained on the bonnet of the car and then got entangled in its wheels for a distance of a more that 1.5 kilometres.

The prime accused, who was arrested from Virar Phata in neighbouring Palghar district on Tuesday, is in cop custody till July 16 and being questioned by a team of the Worli police, the official said.

“Our probe has found he was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the accident. The crime scene involving the car hitting the two-wheeler and then dragging the victim was recreated in order to get more details,” the official explained.

“Mihir Shah and his driver Bidawat were confronted to get more clarity about the incident,” he added.

Mihir Shah, his father Rajesh Shah, a Shiv Sena politician from Palghar district, and their family chauffeur Bidawat have been named as accused in the high-profile case. The accused persons have been booked under various sections, including 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS).

Rajesh Shah was granted bail by a Mumbai court on Monday after his arrest.

In a related development, Bidawat was produced before Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (Sewree court) S P Bhosale at the end of his police remand on Thursday and sent to 14-day judicial custody.

According to the police, after the crash Bidawat swapped driver’s seat with Mihir Shah allegedly at the instruction of Rajesh Shah.

Police sought further extension of his custody, saying the investigation in the case was still in progress.

However, the court declined the police custody extension plea and sent the driver to jail.