Parents away, teen slipped out for joyride

17-year-old Tardeo resident speeds and loses control of his father’s car, kills senior citizen, injures two police constables.

The police are trying to determine if they can fix the responsibility of the Churchgate accident on the parents of 17-year-old Yash Bohra, who is not even eligible for licence but took his father’s car out for a spin and killed a senior citizen and injured two police constables after he lost control while speeding.

Ravindra Shishve, deputy commissioner of police (zone I), said: “We are taking legal opinion over fixing responsibility of the accident on the rightful owner of the vehicle. The probe is underway.”

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On Wednesday morning, Yash, a resident of Tardeo’s Gamadiya Colony and student of Jai Hind College, decided to go for a joyride in the Honda City, before the driver arrived to drop him to college, allegedly without the knowledge of his relatives or sister who were at home. “He probably took advantage of the fact that his parents are in Dubai,” said Zhunzarrao Gharal, senior inspector of Marine Drive police station.

Yash left home at 7.30am and picked up his friend, Darsh Jain, 17, from near Girgaum Chowpatty. The duo headed to Churchgate. Yash was driving at more than 90 kmph when he swung the car on to Dinshaw Waccha Road near Churchgate.

Sampat Maroo, 74, a steel businessman and resident of Ravindra Annex, was returning home after a morning walk at the Cricket Club of India ground when the car crashed into him. “Maroo landed on the bonnet and the boy panicked and hit the accelerator. The car brushed past two parked cars and Maroo was dragged for around 100 meters before he got thrown off,” Gharal said. “The car then knocked down two police constables. The boy applied the hand brake; the car spun and its rear crashed into a traffic island near Samrat hotel.”

The injured constables have been identified as Yogesh Nijai, 29, and Anish Keni, 31, who are attached with the local arms division of the Mumbai police and were on their way to work at Yashodhan building, which houses several senior police officials.

Maroo was rushed to GT hospital, where he was declared dead on arrival. Nijai has severe injuries on his chest, hands and legs and is in the ICU of Bombay hospital. Keni was discharged after first aid.

The boy was not drunk, the police said. He has been booked under sections 279 (rash driving), 304(a) (death by negligence) and 338 (grievous hurt) of the Indian Penal Code, as well as under the Motor Vehicle Act for driving without licence. The 17-year-old was produced in a juvenile court, which granted him bail on surety of Rs15,000.