Mumbai Crime: Brat knocks down sea link staffer, blames his driver

The car

Here's yet another story of a rich brat whose driver took the fall for ramming into a pedestrian. This time, however, the police eventually figured out that the driver was innocent and have arrested his 20-year-old employer, Jashon Vora.

Shockingly, the accident took place when young Jashon Vora took a Mercedes A-Class out for a test drive, with his driver and a showroom employee in tow. Both his chaffeur and the showroom staffer helped to cover up the 20-year-old's hand in the accident.

Sea Link employee Bajrang Dangi who was trying to save a pedestrian when the car hit him; the wrecked car

The incident
It was Girish Anavkar, senior PI with the Bandra police, who discovered the true culprit. Narrating the incident, he said, "On October 6, Jashon Vora, son of a south Mumbai garments businessman, drove out of the Auto Hangar India Pvt Ltd show room in Prabhadevi in a Mercedes for a test drive. After crossing the toll plaza on the Bandra-Worli Sea Link, the car crashed into a staffer there, injuring him. Vora and his driver, Jatin Baishai, took the injured man to Lilavati Hospital and paid his medical bill.

The driver, Jatin Baishai, took the fall for the accident to save his young employer

"Baishai was the family driver, but he was in the back seat at the time of the accident. However, in order to save the boy and his family, Baishai told the officers that he was at the wheel."

Baishai was arrested and released on bail immediately. But Anavkar was uneasy. "I couldn't sleep the whole night. After 29 years in the force, I sensed that something was amiss. I wondered, why would somebody book a Rs 70 lakh Mercedes-Benz for a test drive for his chaffeur? I informed my superiors that something was fishy and I wanted to re-investigate the case. The man we had arrested was not the real culprit," said the cop.

He procured CCTV footage from the showroom and spotted Vora at the wheel. Footage from the crash site also showed Vora paying the toll at the sea link. "An employee from the showroom was also in the car, but he didn't tell the police the true story. Only when we started re-investigating the case did he tell us what really happened," said Anavkar.

Broke down and confessed
The senior PI then called Vora and Baishai to the police station on October 8. "Once I showed him the CCTV clips, Vora broke down and confessed his crime," he recalled. Vora was arrested under Sections 279 (rash driving), 338 (endangering life), 120B (criminal conspiracy). He was later granted bail by court. When contacted Karan Rajani, lead AGM at the showroom, said only, "We gave the police all the information." But he refused to comment on why the showroom staffer misled the cops.

The victim, Bajrang Dangi, is a Sea Link employee. He was trying to save a save a pedestrian who was crossing the road when he got hit by the Merc. "I went to help him and got hit by a car. The next thing I remember is waking up in hospital. I have nothing to say about who drove the car. They paid more than Rs 3 lakh for my medical bills." ACP (West) Manoj Kumar Sharma said "When the officers informed me about discrepancy, I asked them to re-investigate it. They did a commendable job." The accused, Vora, told this reporter, "The matter is sub judice; I don't want to comment."

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