Mumbai BMW hit and run accused arrested 72 hours after incident

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, July 9, 2024: Mihir Shah - the main accused in the Mumbai BMW hit-and-run case - has been arrested, police sources told NDTV Tuesday evening. Shah’s mother and two sisters have also been taken into custody.

Police believe the mother and sisters helped Shah - the son of politician Rajesh Shah, a member of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena faction - evade arrest for over 72 hours.

The cops must now decide if the three women - arrested from Shahpur - will be listed as accused.

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. He is being taken to the Worli Police Station.

Mihir Shah was allegedly driving the BMW - after spending ₹ 18,730 at a Juhu bar, where he partied for hours with four friends - when it rammed into the two-wheeler at 5.30 am on Sunday.

Shortly before Shah was arrested today the bar - the Vice - Global Tapas - was sealed.

The woman who was killed 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.

Hours earlier police sources told NDTV they believed Shah, his mother, and his sister had gone underground together after the accident, and that the latter two may have helped him hide.

The father - Rajesh Shah - had been arrested on Sunday but released on bail a day later.

The only accused still in jail is Rajrishi Bidawat - the driver allegedly forced to give control of the BMW to Mihir Shah. He may have been told to pretend he was driving when the accident happened.

Bidawat was today sent to police custody till Thursday.

Police sources have revealed a rough sequence of events to NDTV.

According to the cops, on Sunday Mihir Shah left home for a party at the Vice - Global Tapas Bar. At that time he was driving a Mercedes registered to his father. Four friends accompanied him.

The five were at the bar till 11 pm; NDTV has seen a copy of the ₹ 18,730 bill.

At 1.15 am (on Monday) Mihir Shah drove his friends - in the Mercedes - back home.

At 4 am he told Bidawat to take him for a ’joy ride’ on Marine Drive in the BMW.

At 5 am, after driving up and down Marine Drive, the car was turned home.

Police believe the car reached Kalanagar when Shah swapped seats with Bidawat.

If true, this means Shah was driving the car when it hit the bike at 5.30 am.

Woman Dragged For 1.5 Kilometres

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.

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.

But, in an even more horrific turn of events, the driver reportedly reversed the car to run over her body one more time before speeding off and out of the CCTV’s field of vision, the police said.

Bidawat was, therefore, "aware of his actions and helped the other accused", the police told a court that questioned the culpable homicide charge against the driver.
"If He Stopped For A Second...": Husband To NDTV

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

"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 said. Next to him was his daughter with a photo of her mother.
"No One Will Have Immunity": Chief Minister

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde expressed alarm at the "rise in hit-and-run incidents in Maharashtra." He said that the powerful and influential attempt to misuse their status to manipulate the system and such abuse of power will not be tolerated by his government

He also said the guilty will not be spared.

"No one, whether rich, influential, or the offspring of bureaucrats or ministers, affiliated with any party, will have immunity as long as I am the Chief Minister of the State. I have zero tolerance for injustice," Shinde said in a post on X.