BMW mows down Ganesh mandal volunteer putting up banners in Mulund

As per police, the incident took place around 4 am near the mandap of the famous Mulundcha Raja Ganesh Mandal where volunteers were putting up banners. Two of them, Pritam Thorat and Prasad Patil, were putting up banners near the Aakruti Tower in Gavanpada when the BMW ran them over.

The duo were rushed to a local hospital by those present at the spot. While Pritam succumbed to his injuries, Prasad is undergoing treatment.

Instead of stopping to help the victims, the driver escaped from the scene. The police found out that the BMW was being driven by Mulund (west) resident Shakti Alagh at the time of the accident.

An officer said that Alagh, who earlier worked in a call centre, had bought the BMW second-hand.

Alagh told the police that he was helping with preparations at a local Ganesh mandal till 10 pm on Friday, after which he went home.

According to Senior Inspector Madan Patil, Alagh told the police that he was unable to fall asleep and therefore decided to take his BMW for a test drive since he had recently given it for servicing. “It was while out on a drive that the incident took place. Fearing he would be beaten up, he fled from the spot and parked his car in his building. He took a bike and fled from there to Navi Mumbai. Eventually, we arrested him from Kharghar,” Patil said.

Although Alagh did not appear to have been under the influence of alcohol at the time of the incident, the police have sent his blood samples for tests. An officer said the police would produce him in court on Sunday and seek his custody.