Potholes on Mumbai’s Sion-Panvel highway kill police constable

A 42-year-old police constable attached to Vile Parle police station died a week after he suffered severe injuries in an accident on pothole-ridden Sion-Panvel

A 42-year-old police constable attached to Vile Parle police station died a week after he suffered severe injuries in an accident on pothole-ridden Sion-Panvel highway.

Santosh Shinde (Bachchan Kumar)

According to the police, Santosh Shinde was going home to Nerul around 2 am on his bike after work. As he was crossing the Vashi village, his bike fell into a huge pothole on the road. “The road had a huge pothole right in the middle. Shinde could not see it as it was dark and fell on the road. He suffered multiple head injuries even as he was wearing a helmet. He also had bruises on other parts of his body,” said Deepak Barkale, assistant police inspector of Vashi police station.

A few traffic officials and a beat marshal team from Vashi reached the spot and rushed him to a private hospital. He was later shifted to the ICU and succumbed to injuries at 12.37am on Thursday.

Barkale said, “The accident took place only because of the potholes and there was no other vehicle involved in it.” The pothole was later filled up by the PWD. “We had registered a case against Sion-Panvel Tollways Private Limited (SPTPL) under sections 337, 338 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) just after the accident. After Shinde’s death, we added section 304 (a) of the IPC to it. We are now investigating the matter,” he said.