Police want Nooria to be out of hospital to take her custody
The police want Nooria Haveliwala, who ran over and killed an officer and a motorcyclist last month, to get better and be discharged from hospital.
The police want Nooria Haveliwala, who ran over and killed an officer and a motorcyclist last month, to get better and be discharged from hospital.
It is not because they are concerned about Haveliwala’s health, but because they want to get her police custody after she was tested positive for consuming drugs and alcohol.
On January 30, the 27-year-old NRI was driving to her Colaba home at 12.30 am when her speeding Honda CRV crushed Police Sub-Inspector Dinanath Shinde and businessman Afzal Akbar to death and injured two others.
On Wednesday, Haveliwala, who has been remanded to judicial custody, developed a stomach ailment and was admitted to Sir JJ Hospital, Byculla.
“She has a gynaecological problem. We do not know the details,” said medical superintendent Dr H. Jadhav.
Earlier this week, she had been taken to JJ and GT hospitals for investigations after she complained of stomachache.
On Wednesday, the LT Marg police received her blood reports from the forensic sciences laboratory that confirmed she was high on alcohol (169mg/100of her blood) and drugs (cannabis and morphine) at the time of the accident.
“We have booked Haveliwala under the Narcotics Drug and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act and sent a request to the magistrate seeking her police custody. But we were informed that her custody will be granted only when she is discharged from hospital,” said R.K. Padmanabhan, additional commissioner of police (south region). “We are waiting for the hospital to discharge Haveliwala to further investigate about the drugs and collect evidence to support the case.”
Police said they would also investigate where she had consumed the drugs and try to gather witnesses, such as her friends, who probably saw her take drugs.
“We will visit the pub, where she had stopped that night, to get evidence that could prove she was driving rashly due to drug and alcohol consumption,” said an officer, requesting anonymity for lack of authorisation to talk to the media.
When asked if they will take help from the Anti-Narcotics Cell (ANC), Padmanabhan said: “We will take advice from ANC, but the NDPS case is not our priority. The facts will, however, help the rash driving case filed against her.”