The police plan to get experts to check the car of a businessman who ran over four pavement dwellers, killing one, at Kandivli, and claimed a mechanical defect led to brake failure.
Anant Kenjale, senior police inspector of Samta Nagar police station, said Harish Jain claimed he was driving his Tata Indica on Friday at 50 kmph. When he reached the Saidham Temple he applied the brake and found they had failed.
“Jain said he was at the service road when he lost his brakes due to a mechanical defect, rammed into an electric pole and ran over people sleeping on the footpath. If he had continued on the Western Express Highway, it would have caused a pile-up,” said Kenjale.
The police will now call in mechanical engineers to verify Jain’s claim. “Jain has been remanded to judicial custody till Monday. After we get the expert report we will take the case forward. His medical report confirmed he was driving under the influence of alcohol,” said investigating officer PSI Anil Anandhe.
Anjali Munnaswami (35), who was sleeping on the footpath with her daughter Laxmi (4), died on the spot. The two others injured with Laxmi have been identified as Valli (30) and Vijaya Laxi (25) and were admitted to Bhagwati Hospital. Their condition is said to be stable.