64-year-old award-winning cyclist dies a week after suspected hit-and-run in Mumbai

His family and friends are suspicious about the accident as Ashok Khale died on the route he was familiar with.

Veteran cyclist Ashok Khale, 64, died on Saturday after being in hospital for a week since a suspected hit-and-run accident in Mankhurd on November 5. The Mankhurd police are trying to trace the accused.

Ashok Khale (FILE PICTURE)

“It appears to be a case of hit-and-run. Khale had suffered head injuries,” said Sanjay Y Vernekar, senior inspector, Mankhurd. “We are going through the CCTV footage of the area.”

Khale left his Dadar residence to go to Khopoli on his cycle on November 5 morning. A motorist, who took him to a hospital in Vashi, claimed he saw him lying unconscious on the new bridge after Vashi octroi post on Sion-Panvel Highway. The police suspect the accident occurred around 6am.

The man, who rushed Khale to the hospital and is also the complainant in the case, is also under scanner. The case was initially registered at Vashi police station but has now been transferred to Mankhurd.

Referred to as the King of Ghats, Khale was winner of national championships in 1979 and had won several state and national medals for cycling. He was known to have ridden the Khandala Ghat section in record time during the Mumbai-Pune national race. A recipient of the Shiv Chhatrapati state sports award, he had also participated in Giro d’Italia.

Social media platforms were flooded with condolences after his death. “RIP Ashok Khale. Great loss to cycling community and so much to stand up and take action for the safety of cyclists,” a cycling group posted on Facebook.

Khale was shifted to many hospitals before he breathed his last in a Marine Lines hospital on Saturday. His family and friends are suspicious about the accident as Khale died on the route taking he was familiar with.