Daily News & Analysis 

Mumbai, Nov 13: A night of revelry ends in death and despair as six youngsters grapple  with the consequences of drunken driving

“Maybe, it was bad luck,” says 21-year-old Alister Anthony Pereira, who was driving the killer Corolla. “In that fraction of a second, I don’t know what happened. I was accelerating the vehicle. I don’t know how the vehicle rammed into them and turned turtle.”

Pereira, along with his four friends - Mervin Pinto (an FYBA student of Raheja college), Craig Pereira (a class XII student of National college), Kurt D’Lima (a student of business studies in Mahim) and Conroy Jacob (a student of TYBA, St Andrews) —  stood huddled in the police lock-up at Khar police station on Sunday afternoon.

The sixth person in the car — their friend Ronella Santamay, a TYBA student of St Andrews — was not present at the police station at the time.

Twelve hours ago their car ran over a group of people sleeping on the pavement in Bandra, killing six and injuring at least nine others. It was a late-night party gone horribly wrong. According to the police, all six of them had consumed alcohol.

The Navy blue car they were driving is damaged beyond recognition, its windshield shattered, wheels ripped apart. “I was partying at a pub (Club 9). Since it was one of our friend’s birthday, I picked up the others from Taj Lands End,” continued Pereira, a production engineer who helps in his father’s business in Goregaon, pausing between sentences.

“This is our first brush with the law. We did not intend to kill anybody. Many of us drink and drive. We just turned out to be the unlucky ones. Our future is marred,” his friend added, cracking his fingers.  “Six lives are lost because of our callous behaviour. It’s a rude lesson for us; the faster we learn, the better it will be,” said another accused. But, it’s already too late to learn any lessons.

Mumbai Mirror Report:

Alyster Anthony Pereira, the 21-year-old Bandra boy who crushed six pavement dwellers and injured eight on Carter Road early on Sunday with his rash driving, says he will never take to the steering wheel again.

“I swear I will never drive a vehicle again in my life," the plump-looking youngster clad in jeans and a striped shirt, remanded to police custody till November 14, told this paper last evening.  Pereira, charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder under Section 304 of the Indian Penal Code, said Sunday's mishap in his Toyota Corolla was the first he was involved in ever since he learnt to drive five years ago, and it would be his last.

Alistair's bashed-up Toyota Corolla at the Khar police station. The car's bumper came apart in the accident 

"The images and memories of the accident will haunt me for life," he noted.

Pereira, a resident of Silvery Dee St Paul's Road, Bandra (W), is now worried not only about the course the law will take but also about his family's reaction. His father owns a machines and tools factory in Goregaon, and Alyster, an engineering student, helps him with the business. "The incident has brought shame to my family. I can't imagine how furious my dad would be. I just want to tell him I am sorry for whatever happened," Alyster said.

Recounting the course of events that led to the accident, Pereira said he had gone to Taj Lands End with five school friends -- who have been booked under IPC for consuming liquor without having a permit and for rude and indifferent behaviour in a public place -- for "a party and a concert organized by a liquor company.

Of his five friends, four are Bandra residents, while the solitary girl in the group lives in Mazagaon. Pereira claimed that none of them had consumed alcohol during the party, though he himself was an occasional drinker.

"We were so tired after the concert that we dropped the idea of having a couple of drinks and instead collected stock for ourselves, which we decided to consume inside the car on our way back. But we did not drink even inside the car," Alyster claimed.

However, blood alcohol level tests done by Khar police on Alyster and others after their detention confirmed that all six were in an inebriated state.

"The medical report from Bhabha Hospital clearly states that all six had consumed alcohol," Shivajirao Kolekar, inspector of Khar police station, said.

Pereira, who is fond of treating friends, however, feels that three of his friends who were with him in the car ditched him after the accident by fleeing the spot.

Also read:

Six Killed, Eight Hurt in Bandra Car Mishap