Police van rams into bikes

5 injured; cops blame bikers for driving under influence of alcohol; witnesses say van was at high speed

Five men were injured when a police van carrying an injured Constable Riyaz Noor Mohammed Shaikh allegedly rammed into four men on two bikes at Mahavir Chowk on Mahatma Gandhi Road at 1.20 am yesterday.
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The police said the van had its siren on, and was driven by Constable Sheetal Shinde at high speed, because Shaikh needed urgent medical treatment.

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The police van that crashed into two bikes at Mahavir Chowk; Constable Riyaz Shaikh who was allegdly hit by the Nigerian student

Eye-witnesses said Shinde was also under the influence of alcohol. He allegedly hit the two bikes near Bata chowk.

"We were pleading to the police to stop but Shinde was hurling abuses at us. He also smelled of alcohol. There were two people inside the van.

One was a Nigerian and the other was Shaikh," a local shopkeeper said. "As our cries went unheard, I along with others went to Commissioner Meeran Chadhha Browankar residence at 1.20 am.

The attendant told me that madam was not there, but sent message immediately to the control room."

Shiv Sena Pune Cantonment Constituent Assembly Chief Atul Gondkar said, "I requested three four-wheelers and the injured were shifted to a private hospital."

What happened?

Cantonement Police said the injured were Rohan Nandkumar Randheer (20) of Yerwada, Abbas Yusuf Gheewala (19) of Raviwar Peth, Aloysius Joseph Anthony (20) and Vikram Hemant Adhav (20), both from Wanvadi.
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They were admitted to the Sassoon hospital and later shifted to private hospitals by relatives.

All the five injured who were injured, except Ahdav, are reported to be stable.

Driver's fault?

"Aloysius had invited his friends at our residence to celebrate his first salary. The boys just had dinner and as alleged by the police were not under the influence of alcohol," Anthony's relative said.

u00a0Adhav's father Hemant, who runs a mess in Solapur bazaar, said: "Vikram wanted to join the police force, and was preparing for UPSC and MPSC.

He kept away from activities that may affect his career prospects. It is unlikely that he had alcohol and was driving."

Police story

The Cantonment place said the two bikes had first collided against each other and fell on M G Road after loosing balance. These two bikers came in the way of the police van.

The Lashkar police have booked the police van driver Shinde of Motror Transport department. However, he is yet to be arrested.

Senior Police Inspector Sushma Chavan of Lashkar police station said, "Medical reports have shown that Shinde was not under influence of alcohol at the time of accident."

Constable injured

Around 12.30 am during nakabandi in Kondhwa area, constable Shaikh signalled to two men on a motorcycle to stop opposite Jyoti Hotel.

But they dashed into Shaikh. The police then arrested Ismail Khudus Ismael Jaleel (19), a student from Nigeria. A police van was summoned to take the injured Shaikh to Sassoon hospital.

The van was going towards Arora Towers on M G Road, while the two bikers were going towards Sachapir Street.

The bike riders allegedly lost their balance and dashed against the ambulance at Mahaveer Chowk on M G Road.

Nigerian national Ismael was produced before a local court yesterday, which remanded him to judicial custody.

'Kalmadi man' vanishes
Eye-witnesses said Manjor Shaikh, the vice president of the Pune Cantonment and Suresh Kalmadi supporter was present at the accident spot to supervise the work of installing marathon hoardings.

He allegedly disappeared as soon as the accident took place. Shaikh said he had to go because Kalmadi was coming and he had to be present for the early morning event. "

As soon as my supporters heard about this, they informed me over the phone. I asked them to help the injured as much as possible,"u00a0Shaikh told MiD DAY.

"If I was around, then I would have definitely come to help the injured."