2 ‘drunk’ men killed while crossing Mumbai-Pune e-way near Panvel

Two drunk men crossing the busy Mumbai-Pune expressway late on Friday night died after being hit by a driver who likely did not spot them in the dark.

Two drunk men crossing the busy Mumbai-Pune expressway late on Friday night died after being hit by a driver who likely did not spot them in the dark.

The police said the two men were hit while crossing the expressway. (HT FILE)

Krushna Chavan, 40, and Dullappa Bhise, 50, both from Karnataka, worked at a private firm near the Kon village in Raigad district. The police said they were hit while crossing the expressway near the village, around 10pm, by a car coming from Pune. “Chavan and Bhise were rushed to a nearby hospital, but they succumbed to their injuries,” said Nilam Pawar, police sub-inspector at the Panvel taluka police station.

Officials said autopsy reports revealed the two men were under the influence of alcohol, but the driver’s medical report showed he was sober while driving. The police have, however, arrested the driver Avinash Sonawne.

Pawar said people were not allowed to cross the highway in that area. “The two men were illegally crossing the road when they were hit,” she told HT.

“Sonawne, a resident of Kharghar, was on his way home from Pune with his wife. He lost control of the vehicle when he saw the two men, and ended up hitting them. We have arrested him and booked him under relevant sections of the IPC and Motor Vehicles Act,” Pawar said.

“He was produced before the judicial court on Saturday afternoon,” Pawar said.

The Mumbai-Pune expressway has been notorious for road fatalities. Last year, state health minister Dr Deepak Sawant said 4,634 accidents had taken place on the expressway between 2010 and 2016, in which 1,323 people had been killed. Experts say human errors and tyre bursts were behind most accidents.

READ MORE

Cross Mumbai-Pune Expressway, but take precautions, say cops