Mid_day

Mumbai, May 2: A Maruti Esteem hit three pedestrians in Juhu at 1.30 am on Monday, killing one of them on the spot and injuring the others.

Nakash Yasin Merchant (25), who was driving the car, was on his way to Andheri after a party when the accident occurred. He is in custody at DN Nagar police station.

After hitting the three victims, the car smashed into a street light. The impact was so powerful that the pole was bent and the car was crumpled.

Fortunately the driver was not injured. Sources said that the police suspect something fishy and are investigating whether someone else was actually driving the car.

The accident occurred when Merchant lost control of the car, ran over a divider, and crashed into the three pedestrians. “I was going to take a U-turn. Suddenly, a car came from behind and there was a rickshaw in front of me. I tried to avoid crashing into the car and lost control,” said Merchant.

Merchant claims he was driving the car at 40 km per hr, but the police have denied it.

“The driver wasn’t drunk, we have examined him. This incident must have happened due to speeding,” said senior inspector Vishwasrao of DN Nagar police station.

The rickshaw driver was also injured, but is fine now, according to the police. The names of the other victims were unknown when the paper went to press. The two injured victims were admitted to Cooper Hospital.