Mumbai BMW crash: Shiv Sena leader's son Mihir Shah arrested after 3 days

PTC Web Desk:  Three days after the tragic incident involving a BMW driven by Mihir Shah, the son of Shiv Sena politician Rajesh Shah he has finally been arrested. 

The accident occurred in Mumbai’s Worli area. According to police sources, Mihir Shah left his home around 11 pm on Saturday to attend a party at the Vice - Global Tapas Bar in Juhu, driving a Mercedes registered in his father’s name. Shah was accompanied by four friends, and they spent several hours at the bar, accumulating a bill of Rs 18,730. After the party, Shah drove his friends home in the Mercedes around 1:15 am.

Following this, Shah allegedly took the wheel of a BMW at 4 am for a "joy ride" on Marine Drive, with Rajrishi Bidawat, the driver of the BMW, in the passenger seat. They reportedly drove around Marine Drive until 5 am, after which Shah is believed to have swapped seats with Bidawat around Kalnagar. The police suspect that Mihir Shah was driving the BMW at 5:30 am when it collided with the two-wheeler.

The collision was catastrophic. CCTV footage reveals that Kaveri Nakhwa was dragged for 1.5 km after the crash before the BMW finally came to a stop. The footage also shows Shah and Bidawat exchanging seats, with Shah reportedly pulling Nakhwa’s body from under the car and leaving it on the road. Disturbingly, the driver allegedly reversed the car to run over her body a second time before fleeing the scene.

Following the incident, Shah and Bidawat are believed to have made several phone calls to Shah’s father, Rajesh Shah, to devise a plan to escape. Mihir Shah took an auto-rickshaw to his partner’s home in Goregaon, where he was later picked up by an unknown person. Rajesh Shah and Bidawat attempted to hide the BMW by scraping off the Shiv Sena sticker from the windshield and then scrapping the car at Kalanagar. They were arrested by Worli Police Station for their attempts to cover up the incident.

Rajesh Shah, who was arrested on Sunday, managed to secure bail within 24 hours by paying Rs 15,000. The police have argued that Bidawat was complicit in the crime, alleging that he was coerced by Rajesh Shah to pretend he was driving the car during the accident.