Speeding car loses control on WE Highway, kills two on scooter

The accused car driver Belkar is a 23-year-old resident of Borivali and is son of a builder. The accident took place near Vakola bridge on the Western Express Highway. The deceased persons have been identified as Manav Vinod Patel and Harsh Ashish Makwana. Makwana worked in a medical store while Patel was a delivery boy. Both are childhood friends and were returning to their Vile Parle homes after a ride.

According to the Kherwadi police, on Friday early morning Siddhesh Belkar, who was driving towards Bandra from Andheri, was going to a hotel for dinner with his three friends.

“The accused lost control over the vehicle due to overspeeding and after dashing the divider jumped onto the other side of the highway and had a head-on collision with a scooter,” said a police officer from Kherwadi police station.

Due to the collision of the two vehicles the youngsters on the two wheeler fell down and sustained serious injuries. They were rushed to the Cooper hospital, but were declared dead before they could be admitted, the officer added. The blood test of Belkar ruled out that he was under the influence of alcohol when the accident transpired.

“The car’s driver was overspeeding the vehicle knowing that his act could endanger his own life, life of his friends in the car and also could risk lives of others. Hence charges of culpable homicide not amounting to murder have been pressed against him,” said a senior officer from the police station.

He and his three friends survived the deadly accident as Belkar’s car’s four airbags timely opened and saved them.

Besides pressing charges of section 105 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita (BNS), the police have also invoked sections 281 (rash and negligent driving on public road) and 184 (dangerous driving) of Motor Vehicles Act.

Belkar was produced in the court and has been remanded under police custody up to Monday.