The mobile phone of a friend of the key accused in the Mumbai BMW hit-and-run case led the police to Mihir Shah, who had fled the scene after allegedly running over a woman with his luxury car on Sunday. It took the Mumbai Police three days to catch the accused because he, along with his mother and sisters, had switched off their mobile phones, sources said.
The police had been searching for the family members using their car number. The phone number of Mihir's friend was also under surveillance.
The BMW car hit fish-seller couple Pradeep Nakhwa and Kaveri Nakhwa in Worli early on Sunday. The 24-year-old was allegedly behind the wheels at the time while his driver, Rajrishi Bidawat, was in the passenger seat. The woman was dragged for nearly 1.5 kilometres. Afterward, Shah and Bidawat exchanged seats and mowed her down again while reversing the car, police said. They then sped away and Shah was missing since then.
According to the police, he left the BMW near Kala Nagar in Bandra and went to his girlfriend's house in Goregaon. The girlfriend informed his sister about the accident after she came to her house, picked him up and drove to their house in Borivali. From there, the family - his mother (Meena) and two sisters (Puja and Kinjal) - and the friend (Avdeep) left for a resort in Shahpur, nearly 70 km from Mumbai.
How Was Mihir Shah Caught?
Last night, Mihir Shah separated from his family and came with his friend to Virar, around 65 km from Mumbai.
This morning, the friend switched on his phone for 15 minutes and the police got his location and then arrested Shah.
A total of 12 people, including Shah's mother and sisters, were taken into custody.
Mihir Shah is the son of deputy leader of the Eknath Shinde-led party in Maharashtra's Palghar district, Rajesh Shah. He allegedly called his father after the crash who then asked him to escape. Rajesh Shah soon reached the spot and was planning to tow the BMW but a patrolling team, alerted by Kaveri Nakhwa's husband, reached the spot and caught him and the driver, Bidawat.
Rajesh Shah and Bidawat were produced in the court of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (Sewree) SP Bhosale yesterday and were remanded in 14-day judicial and one-day police custody, respectively. Shah was charged for allegedly providing misinformation and destruction of evidence.
Rajesh Shah was, however, granted bail the same day.
