JOIN USA woman lawyer killed two persons and injured four others when she reportedly rammed her Audi Q7 into a yellow-black taxi while under the influence of alcohol on the Eastern Freeway here in the early hours of Tuesday.
According to Mumbai Police and fire brigade personnel, the accident took place at around 2:30 am near the Chembur-RCF area of the eastern suburbs of the metropolis.
The accused was identified as Janhavi Gadkar, 35, who practises in the Bombay High Court and is vice-president (legal) with a top Indian company.
Coming from the south Mumbai side, she entered the wrong side of the Eastern Freeway and rammed the taxi, which was coming from Bhiwandi in the Thane district.
The deceased are the taxi driver and one from a family of five travelling in the vehicle.
The family had gone out for dinner in Thane as their son had passed the SSC exam, was and returning to Mumbai. The four injured in the accident are undergoing treatment at the Saifee Hospital. The RCF police station has registered a case of accident in this regard, and investigation is underway.
The deceased were identified as Mohammed Salim Saboowala, 50, and Mohammed Hussain Sayeed, 57, the taxi driver.
The lawyer sustained minor bruises, but avoided major injuries as her car's airbag inflated on impact.
“Prima facie information with us suggests that she had consumed alcohol,” Deputy Commissioner of Police Sangramsinh Nishandar told reporters.
The accused has been booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and Motor Vehicles Act. Police sources said she has been booked for culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
She was produced at the Kurla magistrate’s court, which remanded her in three days' police custody.
Dilip Raut, senior police inspector of RCF police station, said because of the impact, both the vehicles have suffered extensive damage.
Before the Audi rammed into the taxi, it had missed two other cars.
After the accident, the accused was subdued by passers-by who had gathered there. According to eyewitnesses, she had also offered them money to let her go.
The accident comes close on the heels of the verdict involving actor Salman Khan, who was convicted and sentenced to five years' jail in a 2002 drunk-driving and hit-and-run case, in which one person was killed and four others were injured.