Mumbai: BMW hit-and-run suspect might escape to Dubai

The driver of a BMW car suspected to be behind the hitandrun death of a Thane resident has gone underground following a series of reports by midday The 23yearold suspect is a frequent flier to Dubai where his parents live and might flee India said sources But the cops are struggling to issue a Lookout Circular in his name as they donrsquot have his passport detailsDespite middayrsquos reports sharing several crucial aspects of the case the police are yet to reach the suspect a degree student at a Bandra college This newspaper has learnt that the suspect is also planning to seek anticipatory bail from the courtInvestigating Officer Vinod Chimada said he visited the Mira Road home of the young man who is a serial violator of traffic rules but he was not there ldquoOnly his sister was present and his grandmother had gone for prayersrdquo he saidVictim with his wife JyotiNarendra Shinde senior inspector of Samata Nagar police station said the suspect has switched off his mobile phone after reports by this newspaper After being informed that his WhatsApp was active and the police could track him down through his WiFi the investigating officer said he would try to do thatAlso read Mumbai A month on cop pulled up for not solving Thane executives deathlsquoCops had grainy footagersquoThe Samata Nagar police registered a case after Thane resident Harry Bastian 32 was tossed and fell to death from the Sai Dham flyover at Kandivli on the Western Express Highway in the early hours of August 29 An eyewitness and other motorists said Bastian who was riding a twowheeler was hit by a BMW car As per Bastianrsquos family Chimada cited grainy footage of a CCTV to express his inability to crack the caseThe seemingly dead case got a fresh lease of life after the owner of an Andheri garage read middayrsquos report on September 26 and came forward to provide pictures and other details of a BMW car with a damaged fender that arrived at his workshop on the night of August 29 several hours after Bastianrsquos death He visited the MIDC police station but the cops didnrsquot entertain himWhile the garage owner never repaired the highend vehicle as its owner had not cleared his past bill of R15 lakh the car owner paid the money and took back his car after learning that the garage owner had visited the policemidday on September 28 published the carrsquos photo with the version of the garage owner which could potentially join the missing dots Sources said the police didnrsquot visit the garage even thenlsquoThey sat for a monthrsquoBastianrsquos relatives said they were heartbroken that investigating officer Chimada couldnrsquot make any headway for a month ldquoHe didnrsquot show us the CCTV footage Instead he has given us a grab from the footage in which the registration number of the car is not legible I have conducted a survey on my own and found multiple CCTV cameras on the stretchrdquo said Bastianrsquos mother Elizabeth Chimada did not reply when asked if he had scanned the footage of multiple CCTVs on the stretch where Bastian diedHarry Bastianrsquos scooter after the mishapAs midday revealed several details Bastianrsquos cousin Clement Dass said that the Samata Nagar police had claimed a Skoda car was involved in the accidentldquoI donrsquot think Vinod Chimada can handle the case as he has not done anything till date to crack it even after you have served everything about the suspect on a platterrdquo he saidBastianrsquos brotherinlaw Jackson Banala said ldquoTheir Skoda claim shows the police officers were not even sure of the make of the car The cops pulled up their shocks only after midday published the photographsrdquoVictimrsquos wife Jyoti Bastian said the case would have been solved by now had the senior officers taken a keen interest since the beginning ldquoBut nothing happened as such Itrsquos very disturbing as my whole world is ruined I have to look after our 16monthold daughter my widowed motherinlaw and unmarried sisterinlaw and run the house The officers should take it seriously I want to see the face of the person who killed my husbandrdquo she saidldquoIf the suspect is a frequent flyer to Dubai the chances are very high that he may escape the country to evade his arrest It will be impossible for Mumbai police to arrest the accused if he leaves the countryrdquo said Dass Sources said the Mumbai police chief often calls for meetings at regular intervals with senior officers to discuss strategies to crack unsolved or complex cases But it is unclear what line of action was decided in this case Calls and messages to Joint CP Law and Order Vishwas Nangre Patil Additional CP Virendra Mishra and DCP Somnath Gharge went unanswered