2 men tried to drive into visiting Mauritius PM’s convoy in Mumbai; arrested

Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth arrived in Mumbai on Sunday as part of his week-long visit to India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Jugnauth will lead a roadshow from the Ahmedabad airport on Tuesday evening.

MUMBAI: The Bandra police on Monday arrested two men after they allegedly tried to drive into the convoy of Mauritius Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth at Mahim Causeway past Sunday midnight, police said.

The incident took place at 1.50am on Monday when the convoy of the Mauritius Prime Minister was moving from the Western Expressway Highway towards Bandra Worli sea link. (File Photo)

Police said the men appeared to be drunk but added their medical reports have not come in yet.

They were booked for allegedly abusing on-duty police officers and driving dangerously, arrested and released on bail.

The incident took place at about 1.50am on Monday when the Mauritius Prime Minister’s convoy was moving from the Western Expressway Highway towards Bandra Worli sea link.

Traffic constable Suraj Mhatre, a beat marshal posted on the north-bound stretch of the road at Mahim Causeway, had stopped traffic for the visiting dignitary’s convoy to pass. It was around this time that two men in a brown Renault car began honking, Mhatre said.

Assistant police inspector (API) S Khairnar, who was also on duty, gestured to them that they shouldn’t move. But the driver, identified by the police as Akash Anil Shukla (24), began moving forward, intimidating the officials by honking continuously and trying to enter the route of the foreign dignitary.

A police officer said they concluded that the occupants were probably drunk.

Police said they tried to persuade Santosh Ginde (22), who was in the car with Shukla, to be reasonable and persuade Shukla to not cross the line. But Ginde abused the officials and started recording a video on his mobile phone when the officers asked them to exit the car.

The car was intercepted when it tried to move towards the sea link and the two men were detained.

The officers then took the men to the Bandra police station and later got their medical examination done.

Prime Minister Pravind Kumar Jugnauth arrived in Mumbai on Sunday as part of a week-long visit to India. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Jugnauth will lead a roadshow from the Ahmedabad airport on Tuesday evening.