Mihir Shah, the main accused in the BMW hit-and-run case and son of a Shiv Sena politician, has been sent to judicial custody for 14 days.

A woman, Kaveri Nakhwa (45), was killed and her husband Pradip injured after their two-wheeler was hit from the rear by the BMW allegedly driven by Mr Shah at 5:30 am on July 7 in Worli’s arterial Anni Besant Road. Mr Shah evaded the police for three days until he was tracked down to an apartment in Virar, around 65 km from Mumbai. The police traced him when one of his friends turned on his phone for 15 minutes. The mobile phone location of a friend of Mihir Shah led the police to him.

On July 10, Mr Shah was sent to seven-day police custody. “He has not given any information about whom did he meet, where all did he go after the crime. He threw away the number plate. There’s no information on why he cut his hair,” the police told a court as Mr Shah’s custody ended today.

The public prosecutor had sought an extension of the police custody to find out “who all harboured him (when he went missing after the accident), he hasn’t talked about it”.

The 24-year-old shaved his beard and cut his hair to evade arrest, the police earlier told the court. 

“The investigation is still on. We need to know who gave him the car and shelter after the accident. For that we need an extension of the police custody,” they said.

Mr Shah had fled the scene after allegedly running over the woman with his luxury car. The police had been searching for Mr Shah and his family members (who also went missing after the car number) using their car numbers. The phone number of Mihir’s friend was also under surveillance.

The defence side requested the court to send Mihir Shah to judicial custody as in the “seven days, the police recorded the statements of the family and the driver and their statements align.”

“In the remand report, it is stated that they have recovered clothes, recorded 27 statements and found the beer can,” said the defence lawyer.

During the police interrogation following his arrest, Mr Shah allegedly admitted that he was a habitual drinker. Yesterday, the license of a Mumbai bar from where the hit-and-run main accused  Shah bought four bottles of beer before hitting the couple was temporarily suspended over alleged violations.

“We are hearing that they want to see the number plate – what will it show? They stated that the number plate from the front plate is missing – they have the number of the vehicle,” he added.

The police stressed that the “number plate was an important evidence and we need to recollect”. “We have still not found out the reason for the change in appearance,” the public prosecutor told the court.

Mumbai/New Delhi:

Mihir Shah, the main accused in the Mumbai’s BMW hit-and-run that claimed the life of a 45-year-old woman, has admitted that he is a habitual drinker, police sources have said.

Mihir Shah, 24, made the confession during the police interrogation following his arrest, they said.

Investigation also reveals that Mihir Shah shaved his beard and cut his hair at a barber shop in Virar to mislead the police.

The police have also recorded the statement of the barber who had cut Mihir’s hair, officials said.

The police had formed multiple teams to catch the politician’s son, who was tracked down to an apartment in Virar, which is approximately 65 km from Mumbai

The 24-year-old is the son of politician Rajesh Shah, a member of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena faction. A dozen people are in custody, including Mr Shah’s parents and two sisters.

Mihir Shah evaded the police for three days until he was tracked down to an apartment in Virar, which is around 65 km from Mumbai. The police traced him when one of his friends turned on his phone for 15 minutes.

On July 6, Mihir Shah was allegedly driving the BMW, after partying at a Juhu bar with friends for hours. He allegedly hit a couple on their two-wheeler at 5.30 am on Sunday.

The woman killed in the crash was Kaveri Nakhwa, a 45-year-old mother of two. She was with her husband Pradip Nakhwa, who suffered injuries. The two were out shopping for fish.

CCTV footage indicates Ms Nakhwa was dragged for 1.5 km after the collision before the BMW was stopped. The police said the footage also showed that Mr Shah then again switched seats with Mr Bidawat, pulled the woman’s body out from under the car, and left it on the road before driving away.

Mumbai/New Delhi:

The license of a Mumbai bar – from where BMW hit-and-run accused Mihir Shah bought four bottles of beer before hitting a couple on their bike last Sunday – has been temporarily suspended over alleged violations, officials have said.

Police sources said Mihir Shah was “heavily drunk… and on a joyride” at the time of the horrific collision that left the woman on the bike dead.

Mihir and his driver had bought beer from the Sai Prasad Bar in Malad and drank it inside the car after leaving a Juhu bar where he had alcohol with his friends.

Police sources said the license of the bar has been suspended because they sold beer to the accused after the deadline. When the officials raided the bar, they also found the security camera footage deleted.

Before heading to the Malad bar for the second round of drinks, Mihir Shah and his three friends drank a dozen 60ml glasses of whiskey at the Vice-Global Tapas Bar in Juhu.

They left the bar – parts of which were demolished for serving liquor to 24-year-old Shah, who is below the legal drinking age – at 11 pm last Saturday. The bar has claimed Shah showed them a false ID that said he was 27 years old.

Mihir Shah is the son of politician Rajesh Shah, a member of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena faction.

The 24-year-old was allegedly driving the BMW car which rammed Kaveri Nakhwa (45) and injured her husband Pradeep while the couple was on their two-wheeler in Mumbai’s Worli area, police said. Rajrishi Bidawat, his driver, was the other occupant in the luxury car.

CCTV footage indicates Ms Nakhwa was dragged for 1.5 km after the collision before the BMW was stopped. The police said the footage also showed that Mr Shah then again switched seats with Mr Bidawat, pulled the woman’s body out from under the car, and left it on the road before driving away.

Rajesh Shah – the father of Mihir Shah, the main accused in the BMW hit-and-run case – has been suspended by the Shiv Sena of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.

Shah was a Sena leader from Palghar district.

His son, Mihir, has reportedly admitted to driving the luxury sedan when it rammed into a two-wheeler at 5.30 am Sunday, killing a 45-year-old woman and injuring her husband.

Mihir Shah has, however, denied claims he was drunk, sources told NDTV.

Rajesh Shah had been arrested on Sunday, hours after the collision.

The husband had complained to the police and cops from Worli caught Rajesh Shah and the family driver, Rajrishi Bidawat, in the BMW when Mihir Shah hit the bike, as they were destroying evidence.

The cops also believe Rajesh Shah and Bidawat helped Mihir Shah escape; multiple phone calls were logged between father and son in the immediate aftermath of the collision.

However, Rajesh Shah received bail a day after his arrest – on payment of Rs 15,000.

READ | Sena Leader, Father Of Accused In BMW Hit-And-Run, Gets Bail

Bidawat remains in jail.

All three face several charges, including culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

The horrific collision in Mumbai’s Worli area took place hours after Mihir Shah and four of his friends were at Juhu’s Vice-Global Tapas Bar. NDTV has accessed a copy of the Rs 18,730 credit card bill.

The bar was sealed Tuesday and portions have been demolished this afternoon.

Apart from serving liquor to underage persons – Mihir Shah is 24 and the minimum drinking age in Mumbai is 25 – the bar was also sealed for serving alcohol without a proper licence and for illegal construction on the property. These illegal bits were demolished.

Shah went into hiding – he may have received help from his mother and two sisters, police had said – after the tragic incident. He was arrested, more than 72 hours later, from Virar near Mumbai.

His mother and sisters have also been taken into custody.

The woman who was killed has been identified as Kaveri Nakhwa, 45. She was travelling with her husband, Pradip, when the BMW driver lost control and hit the two-wheeler.

Horrific details have emerged of the crash, including CCTV footage that indicates Ms Nakhwa was dragged for 1.5 km after the collision before the BMW was stopped.

READ | In Mumbai BMW Case, Woman Dragged For 1.5 Km, Run Over Twice

The police said the footage also indicated Shah then exchanged seats with Bidawat, pulled the woman’s body out from under the car, and left it on the road. The car was then driven away.

The husband spoke to NDTV and lamented the shock death of his wife.

READ | “My Child Wants Mother…”: Husband Of Mumbai Crash Victim

“I ran behind the car for half a kilometre, but could not find the body. I was crying, screaming, but he did not stop. If he had stopped for a second, nothing would have happened,” Mr Nakhwa had said.

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Mumbai/New Delhi:

Mihir Shah – the main accused in the Mumbai BMW hit-and-run case – has admitted that he was driving the luxury vehicle when the accident took place, but claimed he wasn’t drunk, police sources have said.

Mihir Shah – during the police interrogation – told the officials that he had exchanged the seats with his driver Rajrishi Bidawat before it rammed into a two-wheeler at 5.30 am on Sunday.

The 24-year-old- the son of politician Rajesh Shah, a member of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena faction – was arrested last evening. A total of 12 people, including Mr Shah’s mother and two sisters, were taken into custody.

The woman who was killed in the crash has been identified as Kaveri Nakhwa, 45. She was with her husband, Pradip, who escaped with injuries. The two were reportedly shopping for fish to cook for a family meal.

The police had formed multiple teams to catch Mihir Shah, who was eventually tracked down to an apartment in Virar, which is around 65 km from Mumbai.

Mihir Shah was allegedly driving the BMW – after spending Rs 18,730 at a Juhu bar, where he partied for hours with four friends.

CCTV footage indicates Ms Nakhwa was dragged for 1.5 km after the collision before the BMW was stopped. The police said the footage also showed that Mr Shah then again switched seats with Mr Bidawat, pulled the woman’s body out from under the car, and left it on the road. The car was then driven away.

The Mumbai accident has parallels to the Pune Porsche hit-and-run case when two software engineers riding a two-wheeler were killed.

Mumbai:

Mihir Shah, the 24-year-old son of a Shiv Sena leader and main accused in the Worli hit-and-run case, is missing a day after the accident left a 45-year-old woman dead. Six police teams are looking for him after the investigation revealed that he was at the wheel of the speeding BMW that crashed into a scooter. The crash left Kaveri Nakhawa dead and her husband Pradeep injured.

Rajesh Shah, Mihir’s father and deputy leader of the Eknath Shinde-led Sena in Maharashtra’s Palghar district, and his driver Rajrushi Bidavat will be produced in court today. The two were arrested last evening in connection with the crash that took place early yesterday. Rajesh Shah was arrested after he did not cooperate with the cops in their investigation, it is learnt. 

A lookout circular has been issued against Mihir Shah. When police reached his home, they found it locked. The whereabouts of his mother and sister are not known.

According to the investigation so far, Mihir Shah drank at a bar in Juhu late Saturday night and his driver picked up in the high-end BMW car. At Worli, he insisted that he would drive and took the wheel. The Nakhawas, Koliwada residents who sold fish for a living, were on their way back from Sassoon Dock when the BMW crashed into their scooter. Kaveri Nakhawa was run over and dragged by the BMW as it fled the scene. She was rushed to a hospital, where doctors declared her dead.

Mihir Shah, it is learnt, had called his father and told him about the accident. His phone has been off since then.

A case has been registered under the new criminal code Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita under sections relating to culpable homicide not amounting to murder, rash driving and destruction of evidence, among others. Provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act have also been invoked.

Maharashtra Chief Minister and Sena Leader Eknath Shinde has termed the incident “unfortunate” and assured strict action. “Law will take its own course, everyone is equal before law,” he has said.

The victim’s husband, Pradeep, broke down before the media yesterday. “I have two children, what will I do now? These are big people, nobody will do anything, we will suffer,” he said.

Aaditya Thackeray of Sena’s Uddhav Thackeray faction — the rival bloc of the Shinde faction — rushed to the Worli police station yesterday and spoke to the cops. “I will not go into the political leanings of Shah, the accused of the hit-and-run, but I hope the police will act swiftly to catch the accused and bring him to justice. Hopefully, there will be no political refuge by the regime.”

Mr Thackeray also said he met the victim’s husband. “We promised him that we would do everything to bring the accused to justice.”

The Worli hit-and-run comes months after and has striking similarities with the Porsche hit-and-run in Pune that left two 24-year-old engineers dead in February. The minor accused in the Pune crash was speeding a Porsche car after a round of drinking. The teen’s father, a prominent realtor, his mother and his grandfather were arrested in the wake of the accident for allegedly attempting to destroy evidence.

A speeding BMW, allegedly driven by a Shiv Sena leader’s son, hit a two-wheeler in Mumbai’s Worli on Sunday killing a 45-year-old woman and injuring her husband. Fish sellers Kaveri and Pradip Nakhva were returning after buying fish from Sassoon Dock when their scooter was hit from behind by the car. 

The couple were flung in the air and landed on the car’s bonnet. While Pradeep managed to jump off it, Kaveri was dragged for 100 metres. She died on the way to the hospital.

The suspect, 24-year-old Mihir Shah, who was driving the car while drunk has been on the run, police said.

Who is Mihir Shah?

Mihir Shah is the son of Rajesh Shah, a leader of the Shiv Sena in Maharashtra’s Palghar district. The politician.

Mihir studied till Class 10 and did not pursue any further education. He joined his father’s construction business based in Maharashtra.

The night before the accident, Mihir was out till late at night drinking in Juhu. In a drunk state, he asked his driver Rajendra Singh Bijawat to take him on a long drive.

After driving from Juhu to Worli, he told the driver he would take the wheel and drive the rest of the way. The accident happened soon after at 5.30 am.

After the crash, the accused allegedly tried to scratch off a 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.

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.

What happens now?

Mihir’s father Rajesh Shah and his driver, Rajendra Singh Bijawat, were arrested last evening for not cooperating with the police, among other charges, and will be produced in court today.

The car was found registered in his father’s name, Rajesh Shah.

Worli police have registered a case against Mihir for rash driving, culpable homicide not amounting to murder, endangering life and sections of the Motor Vehicles Act.

Four police teams are currently searching for Mihir.