Police have deployed six teams to locate Mihir Shah (24), son of a Shiv Sena official, who is on the run after the BMW he was driving fatally struck a 45-year-old woman riding pillion on a scooter with her husband. Authorities have issued a lookout notice to prevent him from leaving the country.
CCTV footage is being scrutinized to confirm Mihir’s presence behind the wheel during the accident.
His father, Rakesh Shah, holds a position in the Shiv Sena faction led by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde in Palghar. The car was found abandoned in Kala Nagar, Bandra (east), 10 km from the accident site, at around 7 am. Police used GPS to track it down and apprehended the Shah family chauffeur with the vehicle, which has been seized. The car’s windshield sticker was defaced, and its rear registration plate was missing upon discovery. Rakesh Shah arrived at the scene shortly thereafter and both were taken to the police station.
The victim, Kaveri Nakhwa, and her husband Pradip, residents of Wori Koliwada, were returning from purchasing fish near Crawford Market when the incident occurred on Dr. Annie Besant Road. Both were thrown off the scooter onto the car’s bonnet, with the BMW accelerating while they were still on it. The husband, injured in the incident, searched for his wife but couldn’t find her. She was later discovered near the Worli end of the sea link, 2 km away, and was pronounced dead at Nair Hospital, Mumbai Central.
A case under various sections of the Bhartiya Nyay Sanhita, including culpable homicide not amounting to murder, has been registered at Worli police station.
Mihir had been at a bar in Juhu with friends until 1:30 am after leaving home around midnight with the family chauffeur from Borivali for a drive. At Marine Drive, Mihir reportedly took over the wheel from the chauffeur.
Police confirmed Mihir’s absconding status, noting his mother and sisters are also unreachable as their residence is locked. Authorities are investigating whether Mihir attempted to contact his father post-accident. Rakesh Shah, who arrived at Worli police station and was questioned, claimed ignorance about his son’s whereabouts, learning of the incident only after receiving calls.
The car, registered in the father’s name, had expired insurance as of May. Mihir, educated up to class 10, had been involved in managing his father’s construction material supply business.
Aaditya Thackeray, MLA from Worli constituency, visited the police station to meet the victim’s husband and senior officials, urging stringent action in the case. Chief Minister Eknath Shinde asserted that no one would be spared in the hit-and-run case, emphasizing equal treatment under the law regardless of position or political affiliation.
Transport officials and forensic experts visited the police station on Sunday to examine the BMW involved in the incident.
