Navi Mumbai: A 40-year-old auto rickshaw driver ferrying his two friends along the Alibaug-Pen road, upon reaching near the Dharamtar creek bridge in Vadkhal, Friday afternoon, allegedly performed a stunt by speeding the auto with his hands off the steering handlebars. He lost control, veered off the road, and the auto rickshaw toppled sideways, killing one friend, and both the auto driver and his other friend sustained severe injuries. The driver was allegedly drunk when the mishap happened.The deceased was identified as Santosh Kishan Gharat (47). The injured auto rickshaw driver was Krishna Jagannath Gharat (40), and the other injured person was Gajanan Vasant Mali (41). All are residents of Kharoshi village in Pen taluka, Raigad.Acting on a complaint by the injured Gajanan Mali, Vadkhal police registered an FIR against the accused auto rickshaw driver Krishna Gharat, who was booked under relevant sections of BNS for punishment for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, rash or negligent acts that endanger human life or personal safety and rash and negligent driving on a public way along with Motor Vehicle Act sections for the offences of dangerous driving and drunk driving.PSI Yogita Sangle said, “The accused auto driver Krishna Gharat and his two friends Santosh Gharat and Gajanan Mali were returning from Alibaug to reach their village in Pen taluka. On the way, they purchased liquor from a wine shop and consumed liquor in Gharat’s parked auro. Around 2.15 pm, when their auto reached the Dharamtar creek bridge near JSW company’s conveyor belt, the auto driver, Gharat, drove rashly under the influence of alcohol. His friends, seated on the passenger seats, had warned him to slow down. But Gharat ignored their warning and instead continued to drive recklessly. He lost control, and the auto skidded for about 20 metres and toppled sideways. The three of them were stuck in the mangled auto rickshaw and were removed by the passersby. The traffic movement was disrupted for some time as the locals crowded at the spot.”PSI Sangle further informed that the cops reached the spot and rushed the three injured persons to the nearest Sanjeevani hospital in Vadkhal, where one of them, Santosh Gharat, was declared brought dead. The injured auto driver, Krishna Gharat and his friend Gajanan Mali. The accused Krishna Gharat was not arrested as he was undergoing treatment. As we have invoked the stringent BNS section against him for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, the higher authorities will decide whether he needs to be arrested.
