Main accused in BMW hit and run Mihir Shah was drunk, say cops

The main accused in the BMW hit-and-run case Mihir Shah was under the influence of alcohol when the horrific incident, in which one woman was killed, took place, a Mumbai police official said on Thursday.

A probe team of the police recreated the accident scene in the early hours of the day to get more information about the chain of events and also confronted Shah with his family driver and co-accused Rajrishi Bidawat, who was in the car at the time of the accident on Sunday morning.

Kaveri Nakhwa (45) was killed and her husband Pradip injured after their two-wheeler was hit from the rear by a BMW allegedly driven by Shah at 5.30am on Sunday in Worli's arterial Anni Besant Road.

The probe has found that Shah sped off towards Bandra Worli Sea Link even as the victim remained on the bonnet of the car and then got entangled in its wheels for a distance of more that 1.5 kilometres.

Shah, who was arrested from Virar Phata in neighbouring Palghar district on Tuesday, is currently being questioned by a team of the Worli police, the official said.

"Our probe has found he was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the accident. The crime scene involving the car hitting the two-wheeler and then dragging the victim was recreated in order to get more details," the official said.

"Mihir Shah and his driver Bidawat were confronted to get more clarity about the incident," he added.

Mihir Shah, his father Rajesh Shah and Bidawat have been arrested in the case.

Mihir Shah is in police custody till July 16, while Rajesh Shah is out on bail.

A Mumbai court on Thursday sent the driver Bidawat to 14-day judicial custody.

According to the police, after the crash Bidawat swapped driver's seat with Mihir Shah allegedly at the instruction of Rajesh Shah.

The driver was produced before chief metropolitan magistrate (Sewree court) S P Bhosale at the end of his police remand on Thursday.

The police sought further extension of his custody, saying the investigation in the high-profile case was still in progress.

However, the court sent Bidawat to jail for 14 days under judicial custody.