Thane: A 27-year-old auto-rickshaw driver has been arrested for allegedly attempting to murder DCP by driving recklessly and ramming into Thane Traffic Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Pankaj Shirsat, who was on duty at the time. The accused has been identified as Hemant Verma, a resident of Sathenagar in the Wagle Estate area of Thane.
The incident occurred around 9:15 PM on Wednesday on the Ghodbunder-Manpada Road. Verma was reportedly ferrying an overloaded group of passengers when he failed to comply with a police signal and struck the DCP.
According to the FIR filed by traffic constable Nayan Pandav—who was on duty with DCP Shirsat—both officers, in uniform, had signaled the rickshaw to stop. However, Verma allegedly ignored the directive and drove straight into the DCP, knocking him to the ground.
Shirsat sustained internal injuries, including a dislocated shoulder, and was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital. He was discharged on Thursday evening, approximately 20 hours after the incident.
Verma was arrested on Thursday after police reviewed CCTV footage from the area and tracked him down using the rickshaw’s registration number. He was produced in court and remanded to two days in police custody for further investigation.
“We traced the accused after identifying his vehicle in CCTV footage. He was located on Thursday and presented before the court,” said Prashant Sangle, the investigating officer from Chitalsar Police Station.
An eyewitness account by constable Pandav confirmed that the auto-rickshaw was overloaded and headed from Thane to Ghodbunder at the time of the incident. “We signaled him to stop, but he rammed into DCP Shirsat without slowing down,” said Pandav.
A case has been registered under Sections 109, 125(A), 125(B), and 281 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, along with Sections 184, 179, and 125 of the Motor Vehicles Act.
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