Mumbai, July 16 (IANS) A Mumbai court on Tuesday sent Mihir R. Shah - the prime accused in the sensational BMW hit-and-run case in which a fisherwoman was killed on July 7 - to 14 days judicial custody.
Shah, 24, the son of a ruling Shiv Sena leader Rajesh Shah, was produced before the Sewri Metropolitan Court after his six-day police custody ended, and now he has been sent to judicial custody till July 30.
At the hearing, the police prosecutor sought an extension of Mihir Shah’s police custody for further investigations at the hearing, but his lawyers Ayush Pasbola and Sudhir Bhardwaj opposed it, arguing that the police had gathered all the evidence that was required plus recorded the statements of 27 witnesses.
After hearing both sides, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate S.P. Bhosale sent Shah to judicial custody.
Absconding after the fatal crash and nabbed after 60 hours on July 9 from Palghar, Shah has admitted to the police that he was driving the BMW while under the influence of alcohol that morning. He rammed into a scooter on which the fisher couple was riding home from Sassoon Docks in Colaba to their Worli gaothan (fishing village) home, injuring Pradip Nakhwa and killing his wife Kaveri Nakhwa, 45, sparking a huge political furore.
Initially, Worli police station officials had arrested Rajesh Shah, who subsequently secured bail, and family driver Rajrishi Bidawat, who is in judicial custody, while police teams were hunting for Shah, and a lookout circular was issued. After a massive uproar from the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi leaders and the people, Shiv Sena President and Chief Minister Eknath Shinde relieved Rajesh Shah from his post of Deputy Leader in Palghar, and announced a compensation of Rs 10 lakh for the Nakhwa family.
