Mumbai BMW hit-and-run: Bulldozer action at pub where accused spent hours

Mangalore Today News Network

Mumbai, July 10, 2024: Sections of the bar in Mumbai’s Juhu that served alcohol to Mihir Shah, 24, were demolished by city officials Wednesday morning, 24 hours after Excise Department officials sealed the property.

The Vice-Global Tapas Bar sold liquor to Shah - who is 25 years old and below the legal age for drinking - late Saturday and early Sunday, hours ahead of a collision in which a BMW driven by him rammed a two-wheeler, killing a 45-year-old woman and injuring her husband.

Apart from serving liquor to underage persons, the bar was also sealed for serving alcohol without a proper licence and for illegal construction on the property. These illegal bits were demolished.

Action was taken under relevant provisions of the Bombay Foreign Liquor Rules.

The son of politician Rajesh Shah - who is part of Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde’s Shiv Sena - Mihir Shah went on the run after the horrific incident and was untraceable for over 72 hours.

He was arrested, as were his mother and two sisters, yesterday from an apartment in Virar, which is 65 km from Mumbai. The mother and sisters, whom the police believe helped hide Shah, were arrested from Shahpur. Shah’s father and the family driver, Rajrishi Bidawat, were arrested on Sunday.

After his arrest sources told NDTV Mihir Shah admitted he was driving but said he was not drunk.

The husband of the woman killed has downplayed Shah’s arrest, pointing out the odds are still stacked against him in his and family’s search for justice. "We are poor. Who is there to support us... today, he will be sent to jail. Tomorrow he will be produced in court and then he will get bail," he said.

Rajesh Shah received bail on Monday on payment of ₹ 15,000.

He has been removed from his position within the Shiv Sena.

Bidawat remains in jail; apart from helping Rajesh Shah destroy evidence, by tearing off and breaking the BMW’s number plate, he also switched seats with Mihir Shah after the car ran over the woman.

This was allegedly done by order of Rajesh Shah.

Rajesh Shah, his son, and the driver face multiple charges, including culpable homicide not amounting to murder. However, a specific law for hit-and-run cases - in the set of three new criminal laws passed by the Modi government - has not been applied since the section has been paused.

Under this law the guilty can be jailed for 10 years and face a ₹ 7 lakh fine.
BMW Hit-And-Run Case

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

The woman killed has been identified as Kaveri Nakhwa, 45. She was with her husband, Pradip Nakhwa, who escaped with injuries. The two were shopping for fish to cook for a family meal.
Worli BMW Crash: What Happened?

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.

"No One Will Have Immunity": Chief Minister

Chief Minister Shinde had expressed alarm at the "rise in hit-and-run incidents".

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 "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.