Mumbai: 41-yr-old man killed in acid attack

“Tiwari, who was riding the bike, had stopped a few feet ahead of a petrol pump near the restaurant and was waiting to take a U-turn to head back to Mumbai. An unidentified biker approached the couple, threw acid on them and rode away,” said Inspector Vilas Chaughule of Waliv police station.

Tiwari, Chaughule added, took the full force of the attack, and the acid burnt his face, chest and arms. Seema, who was seated behind him, escaped with minor burns, mainly on her arms.

The police said that the couple managed to ride to the petrol pump, where the attendants and other motorists helped them wash off the acid with water. They were then rushed to Shatabdi Hospital in Kandivali in an ambulance. While Tiwari was declared dead upon arrival at the hospital, Seema was discharged on Wednesday.

Vijaykant Sagar, Additional Superintendent of Police (Vasai), said that the nature of Tiwari’s injuries indicated that he had been attacked at a very close range.

Tiwari’s father, Virendra Singh Tiwari, said he had no clue why anyone would attack his son. “My son worked as an engineer in a shipping company. He never spoke about anyone threatening him,” he added.

The deceased, who had come home on leave, was in a live-in relationship with Vishwakarma for many years, police said. A lawyer, Vishwakarma had represented Tiwari in his divorce proceedings in 2004.

“The motive behind the attack is not yet known… We are going through CCTV footage of the area and tracking the license number of the vehicle to identify the attacker,” said Chaughule.