Helmetless Mumbai teen falls off bike while trying to avoid pothole, dies after banging his head on a rock

Mumbai city news: According to the police, the brothers were travelling from Ulhasnagar to Thane to buy notebooks when the incident occurred

An 18-year-old died after he lost control of his bike while riding over a pothole in Bhiwandi late on Saturday. He was not wearing a helmet, said the police.

Rahul Ahuja, who died in the accident.(HT)

Rahul Ahuja was driving the bike while his elder brother Amit rode pillion.

According to the police, the brothers were travelling from Ulhasnagar to Thane to buy notebooks when the incident occurred. “We took a U-turn from Bhiwandi naka as it was raining heavily and as we reached Mankoli naka in Bhiwandi, Rahul tried to avoid a pothole and turned left but he saw a truck approaching and turned right, driving right into the pothole,” said Amit.

“Rahul then lost control of the bike and it skid and we fell off. He fell on the side of the pothole where his head hit a stone and I fell on a divider and hurt my leg,” he said.

Amit added while Rahul was crying in pain, he tried to stop passing cars to help get to a hospital but none did. Amit finally convinced an auto-rickshaw driver to take them to the nearest hospital.

There too, the siblings received little help. “Even though Rahul was bleeding profusely, the doctors asked us to wait,” said Amit. When the doctors finally operated on Rahul, they could not save him. Moreover, Amit alleged that after Rahul was brought out of the operation theatre, his iPhone worth Rs57,000 was missing.

“When Rahul was being taken into the room, his phone was ringing so we know that he did not lose it during the accident,” said Amit.

Their father Shankar Ahuja, 52, a businessman from Ulhasnagar said, “The doctors delayed Rahul’s treatment and made Amit wait for an hour before giving him two stitches on his legs.”

Meanwhile, the Narpoli police filed a case against Rahul .

“We registered the case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code against Rahul as he was riding the bike and neither of them was wearing helmets,” said M Kature, investigating officer from Narpoli police station. He added that since it was raining heavily at the time of the accident, Amit could not identify which pothole caused it.

“We could not fill the potholes earlier as we were waiting for the traffic police’s approval and then it became difficult for us to fix the potholes once the rains set in,” said a PWD official. “But will fill them up as soon,” he added.