A 33-year-old real estate agent from Nerul has been arrested for drunk driving and killing a 42-year-old auto driver by ramming his car into the autorickshaw at 2 a.m. in Vashi on Thursday.
Amol Kumbhar drove his Toyota Ertiga (MH-43-BE-8153) into the autorickshaw (MH-43/AC-9529) driven by Janardan Kamal Yadav, who was returning from Vashi station to his home in Juhu village.
The police said Kumbhar after allegedly drinking at a bar was heading towards MGM Hospital when he crashed into Yadav’s auto at Abdhyudaya Circle near Shivaji Chowk at Sector 17. The car then hit the pole of a traffic signal before crash landing on a Kotak Mahindra ATM kiosk and damaging it.
The police said that more lives would have been lost if there were other vehicles on the road and people in the ATM kiosk. Yadav is survived by his wife and three children.
Police Sub Inspector Sopan Rakhonde said Kumbhar was arrested under Sections 279 (rash driving), 427 (mischief causing damage) and 304A (causing death by negligence) of the IPC and Section 3 of the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act 1984.
Kumbhar was also made to undergo a medical test to assess the level of alcohol in his body. He was produced before the court and remanded in magisterial custody.