Mumbai: Amboli police have invoked sections of attempt to commit culpable homicide against a scrap-seller, Shabir Yusuf Shaikh, 30, who rode his scooter on the wrong side and knocked down a Class 4 schoolgirl in Andheri (West) on July 15.Shaikh was arrested from Ajmer railway station and taken into custody from the Railway Protection Force (RPF). Police said Shaikh left his home on July 15, early morning and was carrying scrap items on his scooter with a friend riding pillion. They said he was searching for a shop when he rode on the wrong side at high speed and hit Reva Pawar, 8, in front of Cafe Arfa Hotel on SV Road in Jogeshwari (West) at 9.40 am, while she was accompanied by her mother Nidhi, who was dropping her for tuition.Police said Shaikh and his friend fell, got up and sped away before onlookers and the police could nab him. Through CCTV, his scooter number was identified using technical assistance.Shaikh committed the offence despite knowing that riding on the wrong side will put people in danger and lead to accidents, said DCP Purushottam Karad. Reva is undergoing treatment at Cooper Hospital for a skull fracture, and doctors advised two months’ complete rest.Police said more than 200 closed circuit television (CCTV) footage were scanned over four days before they got a breakthrough. DCP Karad supervised the team consisting of ACP Shashikiran Kashid, assistant inspector Haribhau Biradar, senior inspector Pravin Patil, sub-inspectors Pradip Funde and Satpal Bodhe, and staff. Police said Shaikh was first seen on CCTV at a Dharavi shop, where he was found calling a relative and seeking financial support before fleeing the city. Police said he later appeared in footage in Dombivli, and on July 18, he got Rs 5,000 transferred to his account.A police officer said the money transferred into Shaikh’s account helped them track his whereabouts in Kalyan and, with technical assistance, they found he was travelling on the Amrapur Aravali Express, which he boarded from Bandra on July 18. Police said Shaikh left his bike at his Kalyan home before taking the train from Bandra Terminus for Ajmer on July 18. They added that after roaming around Kalyan and Dombivli and seeing news about the accident, he decided to leave Mumbai to offer prayers at Ajmer Sharif Dargah to wash off his sin, while his family members claimed they were unaware of the offence he had committed.
