Bureaucrat’s son, accused of running over girlfriend, arrested

The arrests were made hours after Shiv Sena UBT Leader of Opposition Ambadas Danve visited Infinity Hospital in Majiwada in Thane where 26-year-old Priya, who also runs a beauty salon, has been admitted with fractures and enquired about her health condition

Thane: Ashwajit Gaikwad, son of Anil Gaikwad, managing director of Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC), was arrested on Sunday by a special investigation team (SIT) which was formed to investigate allegations that he had run over his girlfriend Priya Singh, a social media influencer earlier this month.

Bureaucrat’s son, accused of running over girlfriend, arrested

The police arrested Ashwajit and his friends Romil Patil and Sagar Shedge, the driver, at 8.52pm on Sunday under Section 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 279 (rash driving) and other provisions of the Indian Penal Code but not under Section 307 (attempt to murder) as demanded by Priya’s family.

Additional commissioner of police Mahesh Patil said, “The Kasarvadavli police also took into their custody two four-wheelers, a Scorpio car and Land Rover Defender for further investigations.”

The arrests were made hours after Shiv Sena UBT Leader of Opposition Ambadas Danve visited Infinity Hospital in Majiwada in Thane where 26-year-old Priya, who also runs a beauty salon, has been admitted with fractures and enquired about her health condition. Danve demanded that Gaikwad should be booked under Section 307 of the IPC (attempt to murder).

Danve’s visit has political significance. Gaikwad is the son of Anil, the managing director of MSRDC, which undertakes major road development projects including the Mumbai-Nagpur Samruddhi Expressway.

MSRDC is part of the Public Works Department which is part of chief minister Eknath Shinde’s portfolio. The incident also happened in Thane, which is Shinde’s home constituency.

After the meeting, Danve said if the Thane police do not register an office under Section 307 (attempt to murder) by Sunday night, he warned he will raise the issue in the ongoing winter session of state legislature in Nagpur.

Danve said, “Ashwajit Gaikwad intentionally rammed the SUV on the young woman and made an attempt to kill and grievously injured her.” He alleged that the case was being suppressed and the police lodged an offence under rash driving instead.

“Ashwajit Gaikwad is whose son does not matter. The police should obey the law. If someone else was involved in this case, he would have been arrested immediately. Law should be equal for everyone. Therefore, the police should lodge the offence as per the medical report,” he said, adding that his party Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray was committed to getting justice for the young woman.

According to the complaint lodged by Priya Singh, who claimed she was in a relationship with Ashwajit Gaikwad for the last four years, the incident took place on December 11 around 1am when her boyfriend Ashwajit called her to a party at the Courtyard in Ovala at Thane. Upon reaching the venue around 3am, she saw Gaikwad with another woman, who others present at the venue said was Gaikwad’s wife. Gaikwad refused to talk to her despite several attempts. In the meantime, his friend Romil Patil verbally abused her, after which Gaikwad slapped and tried to strangulate Priya. She stated she heard him tell his driver Sagar Shelke “udda de isko” (run her down) with his car.

Earlier, Thane police commissioner Jai Jeet Singh, who has been transferred but is yet to hand over his charge, issued a statement announcing that a Special Investigation Team has been formed headed by deputy commissioner Amar Jadhav to investigate the case.

“For a thorough investigation, an SIT under DCP Zone 5, Amar Singh Jadhav was formed and it is looking into all the angles of the case. Statements of witnesses are being recorded and forensic evidence is being collected. Further sections of the law will be added and the accused implicated as and if further facts are disclosed during the course of investigation,” said the statement from Singh.

Though the offence took place on December 11, the Thane police had issued a notice under Section 141 to summon Ashwajit Gaikwad, his friend Romil Patil and driver Sagar Shelke.

Akanksha Singh, Priya’s elder sister with whom she runs a beauty salon in Thane, told HT on Saturday, “We have demanded that section 307 of the IPC (attempt to murder) be added in the FIR but Thane police didn’t add it yet.”

HT tried to reach out to Ashwajit and his family for a comment on the matter but didn’t get it till the time of print.