A young Parsi priest was killed and his friend seriously injured while riding a bike on the Palm Beach Road early on Sunday.
The deceased, Kaiwan M Dastoor (22), resided in Dadar’s Parsi Colony while his injured friend, Cherag Soli Desai (20), is a TYBCom student of Viva College in Virar. Desai is in the ICU of MGM Hospital in CBD Belapur.
By Vijay Singh | TNN
According to the CBD police, the two youths were riding a bike a little after 4am from Vashi to Belapur on Sunday. The fatal mishap occurred at 4.10am when the bike approached the main traffic junction at Killegaothan in CBD. "A vehicle has crashed into the motorcycle and then sped away in the cover of darkness. We have registered a case of rash and negligent driving against the unknown driver," said an officer at CBD police station. An FIR has been registered under the IPC sections 279, 304 (A), 337, 338, 427 and under the Motor Vehicles Act sections 184 and 134.
The body of the deceased was badly smashed by the unknown vehicle; and he suffered multiple fractures, including skull injuries. Cherag escaped with injuries on his face, hands and upper torso, along with internal bleeding.
When asked what the two youths were doing so early in the morning on Palm Beach Road, an officer said that possibly the two friends had come there to enjoy a bike ride on the smooth road. They were reportedly together for a function at Dadar Parsi Colony in Mumbai on Saturday night.
At MGM Hospital, Cherag’s father Soli Desai told TOI: "I was away in Nashik on Saturday. My son had only told the other family members in Virar that he is going to Dadar Parsi Colony for a programme. So we really don’t know how they came to Navi Mumbai after that programme in Dadar."
Desai said his son has suffered face and chin fractures, and also internal blood clots in the lungs. He has also been put on multiple ventilators in the ICU to regulate his breathing.
Palm Beach Road is a "killer stretch"In the past four years, there have been over 300 mishaps, killing over 50 persons. This year, 10 have died in 50 accidents on the stretch.