Speeding car mows down two on Linking Road

Two sole breadwinners for their families were killed on impact after a driver of a speeding Honda Accord rammed into their respective vehicles on Linking Road, Bandra at 9.05 am yesterday. Two other persons were also injured, while the driver of the killer car sustained no injuries. A total of six vehicles were also damaged in the accident.

Police said the driver Mubeen Barmare (38) lost control of his car and his vehicle first struck an auto rickshaw, killing the driver on the spot and injuring the passenger. The out-of control car then veered sharply and hit a stationary Mahindra XUV, then crashed into a parked BMW and then rammed into a motorbike.

The bike rider, Bandra resident Mahesh Ajwani (45), was flung off the bike and suffered serious injuries after his head hit the road upon impact. He was pronounced dead upon admission at Bhabha Hospital. Ajwani, a diamond merchant, had only minutes earlier dropped his son to school and was making his way back home when the car rammed into his bike at Cross Road number 35.

Barmare was arrested by Khar police and charged with culpable homicide and rash driving. Police said that he was not driving under the influence of alcohol and was speeding because he had nudged a biker few minutes earlier and to escape entered a one-way lane. As he came out driving in the wrong direction at a high speed, he rammed into the rickshaw that was heading towards Bandra.

The Khar police arrested driver Mubeen Barmare after he lost control of his speeding vehicle and crashed into six vehicles, including a rickshaw and motorbike, on Linking Road in Bandra (West) yesterday. Pics/Shadab Khan, Afzal Hussain

The right side of the rickshaw was completely crushed and driver, Chandrakant Tupe (45), died on the spot. Mandakini Mode (45), who had alighted from the auto and was paying the fare suffered a fracture to her back and has been admitted to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of Bhabha Hospital, where she has undergone a surgery. "Tupe was the only earning member in the family. He has three children. A daughter is married while the other two are studying. He left home at 6 am, and we got a call at 10 am that he had met with an accident," said a family member.

Police say
Police said that the auto rickshaw spun and crashed into a Maruti Swift Dzire that was headed to Khar from Bandra on the Linking Road. They said that the driver did not sustain any injuries, but the car bumper was slightly damaged. Having lost control of the Accord, Barmare then hit a stationary Mahindra XUV 500 that was parked outside Amarsons. The impact of the crash was such that the XUV turned 90 degrees and came to rest on the steps that lead into the shopping complex. The rear window and bumper of the XUV were damaged, police said.u00a0

The speeding Accord then hit a stationary BMW that was parked opposite The Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf, which is located at the mouth of Cross Road number 35. The occupants of the BMW had just parked and entered the cafe few minutes earlier, escaping injury. Barmare then crashed into Ajwani (45), who was riding his bike after dropping his son off to a nearby school, before coming to a stop.

Barmare was employed as the personal driver of the managing director of a leading telecom company. He was driving Australian national Rehana Sehdat, a lawyer, to her Worli office from her Pali Hill residence when the accident occurred. Sehdat suffered injuries to her shoulder and was admitted to Lilavati Hospital for treatment. Barmare was taken to Bhabha Hospital for a medical examination. No trace of alcohol was found in his blood, the police said. He was produced before a magistrate at Bandra Court yesterday evening and remanded to police custody till February 18.

"Barmare was not under the influence of alcohol. He was speeding on a one-way road and lost control when he emerged onto Linking Road. Two people have been killed and two others are injured. We have charged Barmare under Sections 279 (rash driving) and 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). We are currently investigating the sequence of events that led to the accident," said Mangesh Pote, senior inspector, Khar police station.

The XUV's owner Dilip Purohit, who works at a shop in Amarsons complex said that he was inside when the accident occurred. "I heard a loud noise and rushed outside. A few other people and I pulled the auto rickshaw driver and the biker out of the wreckage and rushed them to Bhabha Hospital, but they died before they received any treatment," said Purohit.