1 killed as drunk bizman crashes SUV into parked vehicles

According to the police, Ganatra spent Sunday evening with two friends in a pub in Fort and the three were headed towards the western suburbs when the incident took place around 1.30 am. Ganatra lost control over his Mahindra XUV and crashed the vehicle in high speed into several vehicles parked on the side of Bhulabhai Desai Road

MUMBAI: A taxi driver was killed when a 26-year-old businessman, allegedly drunk, crashed his SUV into several parked cars at Bhulabhai Desai Road late on Sunday night. Another taxi driver was seriously injured in the incident in which the SUV, two parked taxis and a private vehicle were badly damaged.

Mumbai, India - July 31, 2023: Vehicle of Taxi Driver parked outside Gamdevi Police station. A 26-year-old drunk businessman from Vile-Parle lost control of his speeding SUV ramming it into several parked cars in which one person lost his life and the other was seriously injured on Bhulabhai Desai road also called as Breach Candy in South Mumbai on Sunday late night, in Mumbai, India, on Monday, July 31, 2023. (Photo by Anshuman Poyrekar/ Hindustan Times) (Hindustan Times)

The businessman, identified as Raunak Sameer Ganatra, a resident of Vile Parle, has been arrested and remanded to police custody till August 3. Ganatra runs an insurance marketing firm set up by his father.

According to the police, Ganatra spent Sunday evening with two friends in a pub in Fort and the three were headed towards the western suburbs when the incident took place around 1.30 am. Ganatra lost control over his Mahindra XUV and crashed the vehicle in high speed into several vehicles parked on the side of Bhulabhai Desai Road. “The SUV first crashed into two parked taxis and pushed the taxis into a private car and then a Mahindra pick-up truck which halted the SUV from going any further,” said Amar Nath, a taxi driver who witnessed the incident.

All vehicles except the pick-up truck are badly damaged and the extensive damage to the vehicles indicate that the SUV was speeding – perhaps at 130 kmph at the time, said a police officer. He added that the eyewitnesses to the incident told the police that the two women who were in the car got out immediately after the incident and fled the spot. Passers-by, mostly taxi drivers, apprehended the driver when he too tried to flee.

Anshkumar Sakindar Rai, 22, who had just got down from his taxi after parking it, was crushed between a taxi in which the XUV crashed first and the shutter of a shop. Dharmendra Rai, another taxi driver, who was watching something on his mobile phone while sitting in one of the parked taxis was seriously injured in the incident, said a police officer.

Police constable Rohidas Bhawari, a beat marshal attached to the Gamdevi police station, took the two injured to BYL Nair Hospital where Anshkumar was declared brought dead. Dharmendra is undergoing treatment for rib fracture and other injuries.

The Rais hail from Sitamarhi district of Bihar and lived in the Dariya Sagar slums behind the Mahalaxmi temple along with other taxi drivers. The victim, Anshkumar, had married just eight months back, said taxi driver Amar Nath.

The Gamdevi police, in whose jurisdiction the accident took place, said Ganatra appeared to be under the influence when he was apprehended, and his blood samples have been sent for analysis to ascertain the alcohol content in his blood.

Ganatra has been booked under Sections 304(II) (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 338 (causing grievous hurt), 279 (rash driving) of the Indian Penal Code and sections 184 (driving dangerously), 185 (driving by a drunken person or by a person under the influence of drugs) and 134 (duty of the driver in case of accident and injury to a person) of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.