A 29-year-old Delhi-based woman who had come to Mumbai for personal work died in an accident after her friend, who was driving a BMW in a drunken state, crashed it into a BMC garbage truck after losing control of his vehicle. The incident happened on Thursday early morning in the Juhu area when the deceased victim, the accused driver and two more people – all friends – were returning home from a party in Saki Naka.
Victim came to Mumbai to get tattoo removed
According to Juhu police, the deceased victim was named Pallavi Bhattacharya, a resident of Delhi, originally hailing from Kolkata, West Bengal. She worked as an air hostess, but she recently changed her job to another airline company. After her selection for the new job, she was asked by her employer to remove her tattoo, as per company policies – for which she landed in Mumbai to get a laser tattoo removal procedure. Bhattacharya was friends with the accused driver, named Ardhvyu Vijay Bandekar, 27, who works in the Merchant Navy. For the time being, given Bhattacharya’s financial situation after losing her previous job, Bandekar offered her to stay with him and his family.
Accident near Juhu police station
On Wednesday, Bandekar, Bhattacharya and two more friends of them named Bharti Dilprasad Rai, 24 and Ankit Narendra Khare, 38, went to a party at a resto-bar in the Saki Naka area. After partying till around 2:30 am, they were returning in a BMW owned by Bandekar's mother, driven by the former – who was allegedly drunk at the time. When they reached Juhu, given the narrow lane in the premises of Juhu police station, Bandekar missed a speed breaker and his already speeding BMW lost control and crashed into a BMC garbage truck which fortunately didn’t have any driver or clean-up marshalls at the point.
Rest of the occupants sustain serious injuries
All of them inside the BMW were severely injured in the crash however, Bhattacharya was the only one who was declared dead before arrival by the hospital authorities.
The remaining three are currently at Cooper Hospital, receiving treatments.
Case registered against victim's friend
Meanwhile, Bhattacharya’s family were informed back in Kolkata and arrived in Mumbai. The victim’s family has registered a case against Bandekar at the Juhu police station.
BMW was being driven at 120 kmph
Bhattacharya’s family demanded to see the CCTV footage of the accident as it occurred on the premises of Juhu police station which has cameras installed. In the footage, Bandekar’s BMW was seen “flying” inches away from the ground before it crashed on the garbage collecting truck. The speedometers that were present at Juhu police station captured the speed of the BMW at 120 kmph, which is way more than the dedicated or recommended speed limit at a residential area road.
Ajitkumar Vartak, senior police inspector of Juhu police station told FPJ on Sunday that they have sent a notice to Bandekar regarding the case against him. They are waiting for Bandekar and the other two to get better to collect their statements for the FIR.
A case has been registered against Bandekar under sections 304A (causing death by negligence), 279 (rash driving or riding on a public way), 337 (causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life) of the Indian Penal Code.
