Drunk driver kills cop, biker, injures 4

An NRI woman allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol on Saturday rammed her car into a police jeep and a bike, killing a policeman and the biker.

An NRI woman allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol on Saturday rammed her car into a police jeep and a bike, killing a policeman and the biker.

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Nooria Yoosuf Haveliwala, 27, driving her Honda CRV at 120 km an hour, allegedly hit the police vehicle that was, ironically, stationed at Marine Lines to catch drunk drivers.

Traffic police sub-inspector Dinanath Shinde (40) and biker Afzal Akbar (36) were killed and four constables injured.

Haveliwala, who was “drunk way beyond the permissible limit (30 ml)”, was arrested immediately, Joint Commissioner of Police (law and order) Himanshu Roy said. She has been charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder, drunk and rash driving and sent to police custody till February 5.

Police said Haveliwala, a Colaba resident and a beautician by profession, was on her way home from Breach Candy at 12.30 am when she hit a taxi parked near Princess Street on Maharshi Karve Road (Marine Lines).

“Unable to control her CRV after the collision, she rammed the police jeep stationed nearby and hit five traffic cops and the biker who was showing his vehicle documents to the policemen,” Suresh Paswan, a local resident and witness, told HT.

The injured were rushed to different hospitals. Shinde and Akbar succumbed to their injuries; the other four cops are out of danger.

Two empty beer cans and some glasses have been recovered from the car. “We suspect the accused might also have been high on drugs,” said Roy. The car, which the police have seized, will be sent to the Kalina forensic laboratory to see if there are any traces of drugs inside.

In 2002, actor Salman Khan allegedly ran over workers sleeping outside a bakery in Bandra, killing one and injuring four. Four years later, engineering student Alistair Pereira crushed seven labourers on Carter Road and a banker, Neel Chatterjee, killed a guard at Dadar.

The biker

Akbar was returning from south Mumbai on his motorcycle when the police stopped him. That was when the Honda CRV hit him. When the police stopped Akbar’s motorbike, a pillion rider (name not known) got off and walked a few feet away to speak on his cell phone.

“Life was improving and there was so much happiness coming our way,” said a relative. “But you never know when life does a somersault and every thing comes to an end.”

The cop

The family of sub-inspector Shinde said the incident reminded them of the 2002 accident involving actor Salman Khan.

“The lady should be severely punished for the crime she has committed,” said Shinde’s 40-year-old wife, Devyani. “The police should not take her case lightly.”

Relatives said they learnt about the accident two hours after it occurred. Shinde was posted at Naigaon Local Arms Division before being promoted as police sub-inspector of Pydhonie police station.