Daijiworld Media Network- Mumbai

Mumbai, Sep 11: In a tragic incident during the festive rush at Lalbaug, a two-year-old girl lost her life while her 11-year-old brother sustained serious injuries after being run over in a hit-and-run case on Friday. The Kalachowki police have arrested the accused, identified as 37-year-old Santosh Nanu Gupta, a wholesale vegetable trader from Ghatkopar.

According to police sources, Gupta had borrowed a friend’s Maruti Suzuki car to visit the revered Lalbaugcha Raja Ganapati idol. Despite the area being marked as a no-entry zone, Gupta parked the vehicle near the temple gate.

Around 4 am, Suman Vajandar (27), a waste collector originally from Karnataka, was working nearby while her children — Chanda (2) and Shailu (11) — slept on the roadside. “She had asked her children to sleep on one side of the road since vehicle entry was prohibited in the area,” police said.

While leaving Lalbaug, Gupta allegedly failed to notice the children lying on the footpath and ran over them. The victims were rushed to KEM Hospital, where doctors declared little Chanda dead. Shailu sustained severe injuries to his head, chest, and stomach and continues to receive treatment.

Though there were no CCTV cameras at the gate, police managed to trace the vehicle through its registration details and tracked it to its owner, who revealed it had been loaned to Gupta.

The accused has been booked under Sections 106 (causing death by negligence), 125(E) (endangering human life or personal safety of others), and 281 (rash driving on a public way) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. After his arrest, Gupta was produced before the court and later granted bail.