Mumbai: Rajesh Shah, deputy leader of Shiv Sena led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, was detained after his son Mihir Shah was allegedly involved in a hit-and-run incident, in which his speeding BMW car crushed a woman riding a scooter in Mumbai’s Worli on Sunday, police said.
Mihir, 24, is absconding, police said, adding that the BMW car was registered in the name of Sena leader.
Chief Minister Shinde has ordered a probe into the incident.
Kaveri Nakawa, 45, succumbed to her injuries in hospital and her injured fisherman husband Pradip Nakawa, 50, is undergoing treatment, police said.
The victims, residents of Worli's Koliwada area, had just returned from Sassoon Dock after purchasing fish, when the vehicle knocked them down near Atria Mall around 5.30 am. The couple were flung in the air and landed on the car's bonnet. While Pradip managed to jump off it, Kaveri was dragged for nearly 2 kilometres. She died on the way to the hospital, the police said.
Rajesh Shah's driver, Rajrishi Bidawat, who was present in the car at the time of the accident, has also been detained, police said.
After the crash, the accused allegedly tried to scratch off Shiv Sena sticker on the car and removed its number plate to avoid the car being linked to his father.
He then left the car in Bandra Kalanagar and fled the scene and asked the driver Rajrishi Bidawat, who was inside the vehicle during the accident, to also run.
He allegedly called his father to inform him about the crash and then switched off his phone. The police suspect that his girlfriend may have helped in hiding him after the accident.
Mihir had allegedly consumed alcohol at a bar in Juhu during a party. The Mumbai police have collected footage from the bar’s CCTV and those from multiple CCTV cameras capturing the accident.