Mumbai court extends custody of driver in Worli hit-and-run case till July 11

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], July 9 : A Mumbai court on Tuesday extended the police custody of Rajesh Shah's driver, Rajrishi Singh Bidawat, in the Worli hit-and-run case until Thursday, July 11.
According to officials, Shah's driver, Bidawat was with Mihir Shah (23) - the son of political leader Rajesh Shah and the main accused in the case - when the luxury car struck and killed a 45-year-old woman, Kaveri Nakhwa, and injured her husband.
"We have to interrogate Mihir and the driver together. We need his custody because he takes drugs and was present at the time of the accident. They ran over a woman with the car," Mumbai police said while arguing in court on Tuesday.
During the hearing, the defence lawyer said that police have no evidence of the driver's involvement.
"The driver was not in that pub. Police have no evidence that he took drugs or consumed any such thing. There is no point in police custody without evidence," the lawyer said.
Mihir Shah, the main accused in the hit-and-run case, was arrested from Virar on Tuesday. Shah had been absconding after the car he was allegedly driving hit a scooter on Dr Annie Besant Road in Worli on Sunday, July 7. Fourteen teams were formed by Mumbai police to nab him.
Police arrested Rajrishi Singh Bidawat and Mihir's father, Rajesh Shah, for their alleged involvement in the case.
Following the tragic incident, the deceased woman's husband, Pradeep Nakhwa, questioned the delay in the arrest of the accused and alleged that he dragged his wife from Ceejay House to Sea Link Road.
"It was due to 'politics' and the accused would not be arrested until the Vidhan Sabha session ends," Nakhwa had claimed.
He also alleged that the delay in the arrest was because the accused is the son of a political leader.
In an exclusive interview with ANI, Nakhwa said, "We were on our daily routine, as we are fishermen, and as part of our daily routine, on Sunday at 4 am, we were returning through the Peddar Road from the fish hatchery after buying fish. We were riding slowly at a speed of 35-40 km/hr on the side of the road. Suddenly, a car at high speed came and hit us; we didn't even realize how fast it was. We flew into the air and dropped on his car's bonnet."
"When he applied the brake, I fell on the left side of the road while my wife came under the wheels of his car. He didn't stop after that; I tried to stop him, but he didn't and dragged her from Ceejay House to Sea Link Road. There was smoke from the wheels when he was dragging my wife. After the incident, he fled from the spot," said Nakhwa.
Earlier today, the Excise Department sealed the Vice Global Tapas Bar in Juhu and questioned some of the staff along with the bar owner in connection with the incident. Mihir Shah had a party with his four friends at the same bar before the incident.
As per the officials, the bar has four doors, and all have been sealed by the Excise Department. Before the incident, Mihir Shah had a party there with his four friends. After the party, Shah left the bar and was seen in CCTV footage going with his friends in a car. Police have questioned some of the staff along with the owner of the bar.
According to Mumbai police, the 45-year-old victim was a resident of Worli Koliwada. Her husband was riding the scooter while she was riding pillion. The husband also sustained injuries in the incident.
"The couple was returning home after buying fish when the scooter they were riding on was hit by the luxury car. Both of them sustained injuries, and the woman died during treatment," police added.
Police also said that the luxury car belonged to a leader of a political party based in Maharashtra's Palghar.
The incident in Worli follows less than two months after the Pune case in which a luxury car allegedly driven by a 17-year-old youth, who was allegedly under the influence of alcohol, rammed into a motorcycle, resulting in the deaths of two software engineers in Pune's Kalyani Nagar area in the early hours of May 19.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde expressed his "alarm" at the "rise in hit-and-run incidents" in the state on Monday and said that he has directed the police to take strict action against such cases, adding that the "guilty will not be spared."