Drunk driver arrested for hitting scooter, killing 32-year-old would-be groom

The traffic police conducted a breathalyser test on the driver and found that he was driving under the influence of alcohol

MUMBAI: The Jogeshwari police have arrested a luxury bus driver for allegedly hitting a two-wheeler while driving in an inebriated state on the Western Express Highway on Sunday evening, leading to the death of the two-wheeler rider.

The accident occurred on the Western Express Highway on Sunday evening (Raju Shinde/HT Photo)

Kajal Madeshia, 26, the pillion rider and complainant in the case, said she got introduced to the deceased, 32-year-old Dipen Jain, through a matrimonial agency six months ago, and they had met on Sunday to finalise a date for their marriage.

“Dipen was excited and wanted me to meet his family members. But that bus driver took the person I was going to spend my life with, even before I could spend one day with him,” the Nalasopara resident said.

According to the complaint, Jain and Madeshia met around 3:45pm on Sunday outside Andheri station, visited the Hare Rama Hare Krishna Temple in Juhu, then proceeded to the Hanuman Temple in Aarey Colony where they sat and chatted for a while. Around 7.30pm, they left on Jain’s scooter towards Andheri. When they reached near the Jogeshwari Vikhroli Link Road junction on Western Express Highway (southbound carriageway) in Jogeshwari East, a luxury bus approached from behind at high speed and hit their scooter.

“Dipen was wearing a helmet but he sustained severe injuries to his head, near his ears, his face, and his hands,” Madeshia said in the complaint. She also sustained injuries to both of knees.

Passersby gathered at the spot immediately after the accident, halted the bus and prevented the bus driver, 37-year-old Prasad Suresh Jadhav, from fleeing. The driver took the injured Jain by autorickshaw to the trauma hospital in Jogeshwari East where he was declared dead by doctors around 8.15pm, police said.

At the hospital, the traffic police conducted a breathalyser test on Jadhav and found that he was driving under the influence of alcohol. He was subsequently arrested under sections 106(1) (death by rash or negligent act) and 281 (rash or negligent driving on a public way) of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita and section 184 (dangerous driving) of the Motor Vehicles Act.