Avtar Saini Death: Navi Mumbai Cops Might Disallow Cyclists On Palm Beach Road?

Navi Mumbai: More than 24 hours after former country head of Intel, Avtar Saini was killed after he was knocked down by a speeding cab while cycling on the Palm Beach Road, the Navi Mumbai Traffic department is likely to take up some stern steps to avoid such incidents in the future. The 68-year-old Saini was cycling along with other cyclists on the arterial road when a speeding cab hit his bicycle at around 5.50 am on Wednesday.

“The incident is very unfortunate and we will be deliberating over the steps to be taken to avoid such incidents in the future. While a board stating that walking and jogging is not allowed on the Palm Beach Road, we will discuss if we need to disallow cycling on the stretch,” a senior police official said not wishing to be named.

The police have registered an FIR against the cab driver, Hrishikesh Khade under various sections of IPC, including 279 (rash driving), 337 (causing hurt by doing an act rashly or negligently to endanger human life) and 304-A (causing death of any person by doing any rash or negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide), and provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act.

Details On The Accident

The speeding cab hit Saini’s bicycle from behind and the driver tried to escape with the cycle’s frame still stuck under the vehicle’s front wheels. However, he was chased by other motorists and handed over to police, police said and added that Saini was rushed to DY Patil Hospital where he was declared dead on arrival.

Saini, a Chembur resident, was credited with working on the Intel 386 and 486 microprocessors. He also went on to lead the design of the company’s Pentium processor.