Two bikers killed in Mankhurd collision

Abhijeet Patil and his friend Manoj Utekar, both 26, died on Thursday after a car hit their bike near Tata Power house at Mankhurd on the Mumbai-Panvel highway.

Abhijeet Patil and his friend Manoj Utekar, both 26, died on Thursday after a car hit their bike near Tata Power house at Mankhurd on the Mumbai-Panvel highway. The driver abandoned the car and fled the scene.

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“They had gone to deliver a file to Sameer’s (Abhijeet’s friend) office at Nhava Sheva and were returning home when the accident happened,” said Patil’s brother-in-law Santosh Manjrekar. “Sameer was out of town and Patil offered to help since the file urgently needed to be delivered to Sameer’s office,” he added.

Abhijeet and Manjoj were employed with private firms and lived in Bhandup and Kanjurmarg respectively.

Mankhurd police said while the car was heading from Chembur to Vashi, the bikers were returning to Bhandup from Nhava Sheva.

“The Indigo’s front right tyre got punctured and its driver lost control. The car veered across the divider onto the other side and crashed into the Patil’s bike,” said senior inspector Pascal D’souza of the Mankhurd police station.

The police said Utekar was ejected from the bike and into the car through the front windshield.

The victims were rushed to Rajawadi Hospital, Ghatkopar but they died before admission.

A soft drink bottle that allegedly contained whisky was found in the car.

“I’ve taken photographs of the whisky bottle and will send it to the police,” Manjrekar said.

The police, though, said they did not know anything about a whisky bottle, and have booked the car driver for rash and negligent driving.

“The search for the driver is on. We’ve written to the RTO with details of the car,” said an officer.