A condemnation of the hit-and-run case in Mumbai’s Worli involving a BMW sedan: Spat and urine tests conducted on a 24-year-old accused, Mihir Shah, proved negative towards alcohol, thus dismissing the assertions of drunken driving.
Criminal permissive medical reports state that forensic examination on test samples of blood and urine of Shah never tested positive for alcohol content, despite being told by police sources that Shah was heavily drunk during the heinous accident. The latest development that has erupted has really put police on the spot.
If the officer has reasons to believe that the driver was intoxicated, then the standard practice would be the alcohol tests.
A problem with these tests is that they can be inconclusive if done more than twelve hours after the last alcoholic beverage. The first suspect, Shah, whose father was associated with the Shiv Sena of the former Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, an outfit that is its suspended wing now, remained a step ahead of the police for two days.
It should be noted that the police apprehended Shah about 58 hours after the incident, during which any alcohol would have already metabolized out of his system.
Later, his blood and urine samples were seized and sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory, and the report was given to the Worli police yesterday.
Had they received a positive forensic report that he was intoxicated, it would have strengthened the works of the police against him; otherwise, now the police will have to depend on circumstantial evidence in court.
Mihir Shah was picked up from Thane district two days after he allegedly hit the two-wheeler with his BMW car and killed Kaveri Nakhwa (45), who was riding a pillion and seriously injured her husband Pradeep, early on Sunday (June 7).
Mihir Shah knew that the woman was lodged in one of the tires of the luxury car after his car had hit the couple’s scooter, but he continued to drive dangerously without even bothering to stop, despite musical signals from those in other vehicles passing the scene who yelled at him to stop, a police official had stated.
