2010 Mumbai accident case solved as drunk man confesses

The informer was at a Wadala bar, where Vijan was in an inebriated state. According to the police, Vijan had borrowed money from his friend but was not willing to return it.

The police officers from crime branch unit 7 said they have cracked a nine-year-old hit-and-run case in which a 26-year-old man was killed after he was run over by a four-wheeler on the Sion-Panvel highway.

The police officers from crime branch unit 7 said they have cracked a nine-year-old hit-and-run case in which a 26-year-old man was killed after he was run over by a four-wheeler on the Sion-Panvel highway. (Representative Image) (Getty Images)

“The breakthrough in the case came after our informer heard the accused, 32-year-old Nikhil Vijay Vijan, admitting in an inebriated state, to have run over a man in 2010,” said police inspector Manish Shridhankar of crime branch unit 7.

The informer was at a Wadala bar, where Vijan was in an inebriated state. According to the police, Vijan had borrowed money from his friend but was not willing to return it. “The accused was drunk. He threatened his friend and said that he can get away with anything and that he had killed a man in an accident but was not arrested for it,” said a police officer.

The informer then alerted police sub-inspector Anand Bagade of unit 7, who began investigating the case again with his team.

“On checking the past accident cases on highways, we found that a 26-year-old man, Rajesh Arjun Padale, was knocked down by an unknown vehicle near Mankhurd check naka around 9pm on January 25, 2010. The victim was declared dead before he was admitted to the hospital,” the officer said. Until 2011, the Mankhurd police investigated the case, but after the officers failed to get leads on the accused or his vehicle, the case was classified as ‘A final’ (pending as undetected).

“During the inquiry, we traced two of Vijan’s employees who were in the car with him. The four were travelling towards Koperkhairane and Vijan was behind the wheels. They have been made witnesses in the case,” said Shridhankar.

The police found another witness, a biker who had seen the accident and urged Vijan to take the victim to the hospital. After the statements of both the witnesses were recorded, the police found Vijan’s records from the Wadala RTO and arrested him. During interrogation, he confessed to the crime.