Mumbai cabbie killed by truck driver after confrontation over wrong-side driving

A driver who stopped to confront a cabbie for driving on the wrong side was pushed into the path of a speeding container truck during a scuffle.

A 45-year-old driver with the Mira-Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC) who stopped to reprimand a cab driver for allegedly driving on the wrong side of the road was pushed into the path of a speeding container truck during a scuffle in Mira Road early Tuesday, killing him on the spot, police said.

The victim, Sainath Jaysing Chavan, had reached near Gandharva Bar, close to the Old Petrol Pump, when an Aura approached from the opposite direction. (HT Print )

The victim, Sainath Jaysing Chavan, had reached near Gandharva Bar, close to the Old Petrol Pump, around 2:10am when an Aura approached from the opposite direction. Chavan stopped his vehicle and confronted the driver for allegedly driving on the wrong side of the road, according to Nayanagar police.

Verbal altercation and scuffle

The exchange soon escalated into a verbal altercation and scuffle. Police said one of the occupants of the Aura, wearing a black full-sleeved shirt and blue jeans, assaulted Chavan and pushed him onto the road. At the same time, a Tata container truck was speeding from the Old Petrol Pump towards Bhayandar.

Chavan worked as a driver with the Mira-Bhayandar Municipal Corporation and was the sole breadwinner of his family. “My mother is ill and Sainath was the only member of our family who had a stable job and as such was the sole breadwinner for the family,” said his brother Kalpesh Chavan, 42, who lodged a complaint at Nayanagar police station.

FIR registered

Police have registered an FIR against four people, including the Aura driver, two occupants of the car and the container driver. The accused have been identified as Sagar Sadanand Samgiskar, 32, a resident of Vasai East; Rakesh Rajendra Chandivade, 40, and Satish Shankar Asbe, 30, both residents of Nalasopara West; and container driver Sonukumar Shivshankar Baghel, 31, a native of Naglabavan village in Jasrana tehsil of Firozabad district, Uttar Pradesh.

The FIR has been registered under sections 103 (murder), 106(2) (causing death by rash and negligent driving), 115(2) (voluntarily causing simple pain), 281 (rash or negligent driving on a public way) and 3(5) (common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.

Amar Jagdale, senior police inspector of Nayanagar police station, said all four accused had been arrested.

“The four men have been arrested based on the CCTV recordings capturing the entire sequence of events that led to Chavan’s death,” said Jagdale.