Mumbai: Drunk engineer carshes car into a house, killing dog

The accident site; The car crashed into the furniture. Pics/Hanif Patel

A highly intoxicated civil engineer lost control of his vehicle in Vasai, starting by colliding into a parked motorcycle. His speeding car then swerved into the opposite lane, crashing through a security wall of a house before killing a sleeping stray dog in the process. This sequence of events unfolded in mere seconds on the intervening nights of Wednesday and Thursday near the Tahsildar office in Vasai West.

The drunk civil engineer, identified as Kaivalya Jaykar, was behind the wheel of an Innova Crysta, but in the FIR registered at Vasai police station, the cops mentioned the registration number of a motorcycle. The motorcycle owner is considering approaching the local police station in Pimpri-Chinchwad for necessary action.

After mid-day questioned the cops about this blunder in the FIR, the Vasai police engaged in damage control and said it was unintentional.

A team from Vasai police had reached the accident site where a spot panchnama was also conducted, and the Innova Crysta bearing registration number MH14GA7127 was seized. However, the Vasai police mentioned MH14DR7145, which is the registration number of a Pimpri-Chinchwad-based motorcycle. The owner of this motorcycle is Revappa Khandekar.

"I bought this motorcycle (MH14DR7145) from a friend, and my brother uses it to go to the office. We live in Pimpri-Chinchwad. This motorcycle has been parked at home for the last week as my brother has gone to the village," Khandekar told mid-day.

"I am shocked how the police have mentioned the number of my motorcycle in a case of an accident that took place in Vasai. We have not been informed anything by the Vasai police. I will go to the nearby police station in Pimpri-Chinchwad police commissionerate to inquire about this," Khandekar added.

The senior inspector of Vasai police station, Ranjeet Andhale, said, "You are right, the registration number of the vehicle mentioned in the FIR is incorrect. The complainant had given us the wrong registration number, but the Innova Crysta, which met with an accident, has a different registration number."

"We will record a rectified statement of the complainant. It was a typo error and unintentional," Andhale told mid-day.

When asked whether the team conducting the spot panchnama mentioned the correct or incorrect registration number of the vehicle, Andhale said, "The accident took place at 1.30 am on Thursday, and a police team reached the spot. We brought the Innova Crysta to the police station, and then the spot panchnama was conducted. The complainant had given a wrong registration number...it was unintentional."

There were three occupants, including the car owner Pratik Dave and Jaykar's cousin Anish, in the car at the time of the accident, but the drunk driver immediately escaped from the crime spot. Dave's father is a local builder in Vasai, said a source.

"The complainant knew the driver, Jaykar, who is a local resident of Vasai. There were three occupants in the car, and everyone was drunk. First, the driver lost control of the vehicle and accidentally touched a motorcycle parked roadside. Then the car veered off to the opposite lane after crashing into the road divider. The car bulldozed a security wall, damaged furniture kept on the premises of an eatery, and killed a female dog," Andhale added.

"Jaykar is a civil engineer by profession and had been driving the car of his friend Pratik Dave, who was also present in the car. After the accident, Jaykar escaped from the crime scene," he added.

However, the locals identified Jaykar and mounted pressure on the remaining two occupants of the car to surrender him before the police, where an FIR was registered against the driver under relevant sections of the IPC and Motor Vehicle Act.

"Since a female dog died in the accident, we have also added relevant sections of the Animal Cruelty Act. The mortal remains of the dog were sent for post-mortem," Andhale added.

"Also, Jaykar's blood samples were taken and sent to the Directorate of Forensic Science Laboratory, Kalina, to ascertain the level of alcohol. Though prima facie it seems that he was heavily drunk at the time of the accident," he added.No arrest was made in the case. "There was no loss of human life, only a dog died. So, Jaykar was not placed under arrest," Andhale concluded.