Thane ‘mowing down’ case: Accused trio, including top babu’s son, granted bail

Thane:  A Thane court on Monday granted bail to three accused, including the son of a senior Maharashtra bureaucrat, arrested for their involvement in the “mowing down” case of a beautician on December 11, lawyers said.

The trio — Ashwajit Gaikwad, Romil Patil and Sagar Shelke — were arrested on Sunday night by a SIT of the Thane police within hours after it launched the probe.

They were produced before Magistrate P. S. Dhumal who rejected the police demand for five days custody, sent them to judicial custody and then granted them bail of Rs 15,000 each.

Senior advocate Rajan Salunkhe, representing Gaikwad, the son of Vice-Chairman and MD of Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation Anilkumar Gaikwad, told media persons that all the offences were of a bailable nature and hence the court has freed them on bail.

“Given the sensitive nature of the case, the complaint lodged by a woman and the ongoing investigations, we request you all not to conduct a ‘media trial’ and exercise restraint,” he said.

He claimed that Gaikwad was not present at the time of the incident, which was actually a case of accident, and they would present their version before the investigators.

Gaikwad, Patil and Shelke, were nabbed after a complaint was lodged by beautician, Priya Umendra Singh, 26, alleging that her boyfriend Gaikwad and his friends had tried to “mow” her down with his SUV, in the early hours of December 11, and left her bleeding on the road to die.

After a massive furore, the Thane Kasarvadavali Police Station filed the complaint last weekend, and on Sunday, a SIT was formed to probe the case. In less than 12 hours after it launched the investigations, the SIT arrested the prime accused trio and also seized two SUVs – a Scorpio and a Land Rover Defender – which were allegedly used for the crime.

The state government came in for huge flak from the Opposition Congress leaders and other parties and demanded justice for the woman, currently undergoing treatment at a private hospital for a broken leg and other injuries.

–IANS