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.

Hours after a speeding BMW hit a man and his wife in Mumbai’s Worli, killing the woman, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Aaditya Thackeray said he did not wish to add any “political colour” to the case even as police sources claimed that the car belonged to a leader of Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena.

Mr Thackeray met the victim’s husband at a police station in Mumbai and demanded that the accused driver be arrested. Speaking exclusively to NDTV outside the police station, Mr Thackeray said the accused has to be arrested “without any political influence.”

“It’s heart-wrenching. I don’t want to give any political colour to it. We have demanded the culprit be arrested. I met the victim, he told me how it happened. It was a clear hit-and-run,” he said.

In a post on X, the Shiv Sena leader said traffic rule violations have become more frequent in Mumbai and demanded severe punishment for those who break road rules.

“Driving cars in the wrong direction, jumping signals, tripling… everything is increasing in Mumbai! Now things like hit and run have started happening! Even if the person who caused the accident is arrested immediately, it is necessary not to allow such incidents to happen. For that, we have to go beyond politics and improve this situation! Drivers will be disciplined and offenders will be severely punished!” he wrote.

At 5.30 am, fish sellers Kaveri and Pradik Nakva were returning after buying fish from the Sassoon Dock when their two-wheeler was hit by a speeding BMW.

The crash caused the bike to overturn, flinging the couple onto the car’s bonnet. While the man managed to jump off the car, the wife was dragged for over 100 metres. She was rushed to the hospital but declared brought dead.

Police sources have claimed that the accused driver, 24-year-old Mihir Shah, is the son of Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena leader Rajesh Shah.

He was drinking till late last night at Juhu and asked his driver to take him on a “long drive”, they said. At Worli, he insisted that his driver let him drive.

Shah was behind the wheel of the BMW as the two drove from Worli to Goregaon when the accident occurred. After the crash, the car’s number plate was taken off and kept inside the car to avoid identification of the vehicle.

Shah’s father and the driver are being questioned while a search is on to locate him.