MUMBAI, July 2:
A 70-year-old woman was killed in a mishap involving a Toyota Lexus vehicle owned by Arbaaz Khan, actor and brother of Bollywood superstar Salman Khan, in suburban Bandra here last night, police said today.
The vehicle was driven by Dhananjay Pimple (44), driver of Arbaaz’s brother Sohail, who was taking a U-turn at B J Road Junction at 10.30 pm last night when the victim, Chandana Bala came under the wheels, police said.
Neither Sohail nor Arbaaz was present in the vehicle, police said, adding that the victim was a beggar living on the footpath in the locality.
Fearing trouble, Pimple ran away from the accident spot and surrendered before Bandra police station which placed him under arrest and produced him today before a court here which granted him bail on surety of Rs 10,000.
The offence is bailable and hence the driver got bail, police said adding that he was booked for offences under 304 A IPC (causing death by negligence), 279 IPC (rash driving) and 134 A of Motor Vehicles Act (abdicating responsibility to take victim to hospital).
Two eye witnesses, Rizwan Khan and Nizamuddin Choudhary, who saw the victim lying in an injured condition on the road, alerted police constable Sandeep Yadav of Khar police station who was passing by. The trio then took the lady to Bhabha hospital where she succumbed to her injuries, police said.
Both witnesses and constable then went to Bandra police station where they saw Pimple and identified him as the driver of the ill-fated vehicle.
Pimple was arrested and his blood sample was taken. Preliminary report indicated that he was not drunk at the time of mishap. However, the sample has been sent to forensic lab and the result is awaited, police said.
Pimple told police that the mishap occurred when he was taking a U-turn to pick up some of his belongings lying at Salman Khan’s house at Band Stand, not far from the accident spot. He said the woman came under the wheels all of a sudden.
Police said the victim was living on footpath and made a living by begging. However, they said it was not clear whether she was crossing the road or sleeping when the mishap occurred.
The mishap occurred at B J Road, which connects Band Stand and Hill Road.
Police are likely to record statements of Sohail Khan and Arbaaz Khan.
Reacting to the mishap, actor Sohail Khan, said, “I was not in the car. I think this news has been hyped. Instead of focusing on who was in the car, people should focus on who was killed. I got to know about this incident after an hour. It (accident) happened by mistake.”
“It came as a shock to me as well. I was at home. I did not know what was happening. Only the driver was there in the car. The car was coming home and they did not know who the family was,” he said.
Brother Salman Khan, came in support of Sohail saying “This accident happened by mistake. I spoke to the driver and he said when he was driving he saw something like a black polythene…But it was a lady who was dressed in black.”
When asked if they would pay compensation to the family of the victim, Salman said, “We are not paying any money to her family members, as we got to know that they have disowned her.” (PTI)
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