In another painful reminder of the Santosh Mane bus rampage, a car drove recklessly on the ever busy Jungli Maharaj Road on Wednesday evening, at an abnormally high speed, hitting hard a two-wheeler, an auto rickshaw, a hand cart in succession. The rampage left four people, including a girl, seriously injured.
The incident brought back the horrifying memories of MSRTC driver Santosh Mane who had killed nine people with his reckless driving on January 25, 2012.
The driver of the car has been identified as Mahesh Marutirao Sardesai (38), a resident of Koregaon Park’s Bungalow No. 3, North Main Road. Senior police inspector Manohar Joshi of the Deccan Gymkhana police station said, “We detained Sardesai and sent him for a medical test. The medical reports confirmed that he was driving under the influence of alcohol. We will produce him in the court tomorrow (on Thursday).”
The car went on dashing people, injuring more than eight people, out of which four admitted to hospitals in serious condition. The girl who was sitting on the two wheeler that was hit by the car sustained serious injuries.
Ram Gadekar, the driver of the auto rickshaw that was hit, said, “I had just dropped a passenger at the Deccan and was standing there when this car rammed into my rickshaw. This auto was my only source of earning.”
Ramesh Singhania (33), who had come to grab a snack said, “I was standing for snacks when I heard the sound. I saw the car ramming into a two-wheeler. Then it hit an auto rickshaw and ended up hitting two more two-wheelers on the way. People were running helter skelter as everyone was stunned by the accident.”
Abhimanyu Tambe (24) who is studying short film direction, said, “I was on JM Road with a friend when the car hit me from behind. My left hand got fractured and I also got several injuries on my legs and right shoulder.”
The girl travelling with Tambe sustained head injuries and is undergoing treatment at Poona Hospital.
Dr Harshal Patkar of Poona Hospital said, “Bot of them were brought in a critical condition. Tambe was given pain killers and his left hand was plastered. The girl has got severe head injuries.”
Mahesh Birajdar (25), a roadside vendor said, “I was cutting vegetables on my hand cart when I heard the loud bang. When I looked up I saw the car coming towards me. I jumped aside and managed to save my life.”
