Man whose car ran over CEO was driving at high speed: friend

The 22-year-old friend of the accused has said that while the accused, Sumer Merchant, was driving the car, their male friend, who fell asleep during the journey, was seated next to him and she was sitting in the back seat.

“Soon after we crossed Worli dairy and reached the sea face road, Sumer started driving his car at high speed. I requested him to slow down but Sumer continued to drive fast. And as I am afraid of speed, I sat with my head on the back of Sumer’s seat so that I could not see anything on the road,” her statement read.

The woman claimed that she opened her eyes only after she heard a loud noise of the accident.

“I saw that the windshield of the car was broken and Sumer was trying to control the car by applying the brakes. However, our car went from the left side to the right side of the road, hit the divider and stopped,” she said in her statement to police.

Merchant was arrested on March 19 for allegedly running his Tata Nexon car over the tech firm CEO who was out for a run at Worli sea face.

Subsequently a chargesheet was filed last week and it includes statements of 11 other witnesses of which four have testified before the magistrate.

To corroborate with the 22-year-old witness’s statement, the police have also attached the speed report that they have obtained from the Regional Transport Office and the company to the chargesheet. The report shows that the car was being driven at a speed between 95-100 km/hr.

Also, Merchant’s blood sample report has tested positive for alcohol, said the chargesheet. However, days after the chargesheet was filed, Merchant, through his lawyer, filed a fresh bail plea at sessions court stating that the analysis of his urine sample showed no traces of alcohol. The urine report is not part of the chargesheet. His bail plea will be heard next week.