Black vehicle, which stood right in the middle of the road near Heera Panna shopping centre, caused a nightmare jam yesterday; short circuit in its electric systems had ensured the wheels got locked
Notorious for its traffic jams, the Haji Ali junction saw another pile-up yesterday owing to a bizarre reason a stranded BMW right in the middle of the road. The black car spent the better part of the day watching vehicles veer around it, and was only removed in the evening.
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Traffic police noticed the car around 9.30 am and it could be removed only by 6.30 pm. Due to an electric fault, its wheels had become locked. Pics/Bipin Kokate
According to locals, the vehicle had been seen passing by the area on Tuesday at around 11 pm. A Traffic policeman spotted it in the second lane from the left, right opposite the bus stop before Heera Panna shopping centre. An electrical fault in the luxury vehicle had ensured its wheels got locked, making it impossible to tow it away using a towing van.
Barricades had to be put in to prevent any motorist from ramming into the stationary vehicle, and this caused a bottleneck, leading to a huge traffic jam. Buses found it difficult to go around it and vehicular movement slowed down, almost coming to a standstill.
The Tardeo Traffic police then sent their personnel to search for the owner of the car with number plate MH-02-BJ-9292. An Andheri RTO official told the Traffic cops that the car had been registered in the name of Kanakia Spaces, a real estate firm. The company, however, clarified they didn’t own it any more. “We have nothing to do with this vehicle. We sold it almost two years back,” said R Kanakia, chairman, Kanakia Spaces.
Success
At around 4 pm, police finally managed to trace the owner – one Mohammed Ali. When contacted, Ali told the police he was not in town and would send the details of the vehicle with his driver. “The driver, Mohammad Salman Salim Khan, was apparently driving the car,” said a police official from Tardeo police station.
Ali had already contacted mechanics from AR Motorsports in Vile Parle, after his driver had informed him about the vehicle getting stalled. The mechanics arrived around 3.30 pm to try to get the vehicle to move, but to no avail. “There was an electrical fault in the car which led to a short circuit.
This locked the wheels and prevented the car from moving any further,” explained one of the mechanics from the dealer. The personnel, however, managed to put the car in neutral gear. At around 6.30 pm, a hydraulic towing crane was called in to lift and take it to Tardeo police station.
Ajit Patil, a traffic constable from Tardeo Traffic police, said, “There is always traffic in this area but this car only made it worse.” Patil and Inspector Sandeep Mane, from Tardeo police station, manned the spot till the very end. The driver, Khan, also reported to the police around the same time. At the time of going to print, police were still deciding what to charge him with.
J K Ramane, senior police inspector, Tardeo Traffic police division, said they had levied a fine of R100 for a no-parking offence. The driver has taken the car to a garage for repairs.
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