The owners of scooters badly damaged after a business tycoon’s son crashed his out-of-control Porsche in Bandra during the pre-dawn hours on Saturday have approached mid-day, claiming they have yet to receive any compensation promised by the accused’s relatives
The damaged Porsche
The owners of scooters badly damaged after a business tycoon’s son crashed his out-of-control Porsche in Bandra during the pre-dawn hours on Saturday have approached mid-day, claiming they have yet to receive any compensation promised by the accused’s relatives.
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Most of the victims, who are either porters or salesmen, urgently need their two-wheelers for work. Mechanics have informed them that the damaged vehicles are beyond repair. mid-day spoke to the victims, who alleged that “the police are yet to conduct a panchnama of the accident site.” Nineteen-year-old Dhruv Nalin Gupta, son of the Managing Director of J Kumar Infraprojects Ltd, was driving the Porsche. Three men and a woman were also present in the car at the time of the accident.
The victims with the badly damaged scooters in Bandra. Pics/Ashish Raje
The accident occurred around 2.40 am on Saturday near Sadhu Vaswani Chowk in Bandra, where the speeding Porsche veered off the road and crashed into a row of parked scooters, near a tree. “The impact was so powerful that most of the scooters’ engines, fuel tanks, and chassis were completely damaged,” said the victims.
Victims speak out
Rehbar Siddique, 40, who works as a delivery man, said he had just recovered from a prior accident that left him bedridden for 1.5 months. Now, his damaged scooter has left him unable to work. “I am the only breadwinner in my family. I bought this scooter on loan, and four EMIs are still pending. I have no money left after being out of work for months,” Siddique said.
“How can I work as a delivery boy when my scooter is damaged beyond repair? This has been a major setback for me because I have EMIs to pay and a family to support,” he lamented. He added, “I’m scared to approach anyone for help. I don’t even have the resources to go to the police. I am a poor man—where will I get the money to buy a new motorcycle?”
Subhan Mansoori, a salesman, said he was sleeping when he was awakened by a loud crash. When he stepped out, he saw the Porsche had destroyed his vehicle. “It was a horrible scene. There were four people in the car—a young man was driving, with a woman in the passenger seat and two men in the back. After stepping out, the woman threw a few liquor bottles from the car,” he alleged.
“I work at a furniture shop, and this accident has made it difficult for me to commute to work. I can’t afford auto-rickshaw rides daily,” Mansoori explained. He also claimed the police have not conducted a panchnama. “It’s been three days, but the cops haven’t done the panchnama. It feels like they are trying to shield the accused because he’s wealthy,” he said.
Mansoori further alleged, “When the police arrived, Dhruv sat as a pillion on a cop’s bike. He murmured something to the officer, and after that, the cop’s behaviour changed. The police manhandled us at the scene and barred us from recording anything.”
Complaints at police station
Samsuddin Mansoori, whose son Hasnain’s scooter was damaged, said all the victims went to the Bandra police station to file an FIR, but the police allegedly did not record their statements. “Instead, one of the policemen filed the FIR without including our statements. When we questioned them, the officers threatened to register an FIR against us if we didn’t stay quiet,” Mansoori alleged.
“My son is now struggling to commute to college and tuitions because his scooter is beyond repair. The accused’s relatives promised us compensation at the police station, but we haven’t received any help so far. To make matters worse, we learned that the police have filed a cross-FIR against us. This is shocking,” he added.
Police respond
When contacted, Deputy Commissioner of Police Dikshit Gedam denied allegations of police misconduct. “Our officers were not involved in manhandling anyone. Instead, those at the accident site tried to disrupt official work, so we registered a case against them for assaulting or using criminal force to deter public servants from discharging their duties,” Gedam said.
However, Gedam did not respond to questions about Dhruv’s blood test results, to check for drunk driving. “The investigating officer is currently busy with bandobast duties, and I do not have the case file in front of me,” Gedam said. Efforts to contact Kamal Gupta of J Kumar Infraprojects Ltd for comments went unanswered.
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