Mumbai BMW crash: Shah family driver sent to 14 days judicial custody

Mumbai, July 11 (IANS) A Mumbai court sent the sensational BMW hit-and-run accident case accused, driver Rajrishi Bidawat, to 14 days judicial custody, after his police remand ended on Thursday. Bidawat was produced before the Sewri court’s Chief Metropolitan Magistrate S.P. Bhosale where the police sought further custody as the investigations into the high-profile case are still underway with many angles left to be dealt with.On May 7, just before dawn, the BMW, driven by allegedly inebriated prime accused Mihir Shah, 24 – son of ruling Shiv Sena’ Palghar former deputy leader Rajesh Shah – had rammed into a fisher-couple riding a scooter home to Worli gaothan.In the accident, fisherman Pradip Nakhwa sustained injuries, but his wife, who was dragged for several hundred metres, fell to the ground forcefully when Mihir Shah stopped the vehicle, leading to her death.At the time of the crash, Mihir Shah was at the wheel – as per his admission to the police and the court on Wednesday – while Bidawat was sitting beside him, but minutes later, he abandoned the BMW and fled in another vehicle.After absconding for nearly 60 hours, Mihir Shah was finally caught from Virar town in Palghar and was sent to police custody till July 16.On Thursday, he was taken by a police team to the accident site to reconstruct the entire sequence of that day’s (July 7) events. The police informed the court that after consuming alcoholic drinks at Juhu bar, Vice Global Tapas, Mihir Shah had again drunk more liquor at another suburban bar, somewhere between Malad-Borivali.Bidawat has also told the police that Mihir Shah and others had gone for a drive to Marine Drive in south Mumbai, that day being a holiday, and he (Bidawat) was driving it from Borivali to south Mumbai. However, near Girgaum, Mihir Shah had forcibly grabbed the car keys from Bidawat and then drove the car till the fatal crash near Worli, which sparked a huge political furore.–IANSqn/vd