Hit-and-run Mercedes kills 21-year-old man in Thane | Mumbai News

THANE: A 21-year-old man was killed in Thane in the early hours of Monday after a speeding Mercedes rammed his scooter from behind. Naupada police are searching for the driver of the luxury car, Abhijeet Sureshbabu Nair, who fled the scene after the accident.

Nair was charged under Sections 106(2) (death due to rash and negligent driving), 281 (rash driving) and 125 (b) (grievous hurt) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and relevant sections of the Motor Vehicles Act.

The victim has been identified as Darshan Shashidhar Hegde, a resident of Dnyaneshwar Nagar in Thane. According to police, Hegde had gone out to buy groceries around 1.50 am on Monday after fasting the entire day for Sankashti Chaturthi. He was riding a scooter to Thane railway station to buy groceries and was returning home on the Mumbai-Nashik highway when a Mercedes traveling at high speed hit him from behind, police said, adding , Hegde died on the spot. He was rushed to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Hospital in Kalwa where he was declared dead.

After Hegde did not return home for over an hour, his brother Shashank Hegde tried to call him several times but there was no response. Finally, Naupada police called him to inform him about the accident. Shashank Hegde’s employer, Dishit Jagdish Thakkar, who owned the TVS scooter that Darshan was driving, lodged a complaint with the police following which a case was registered.

According to his family, Darshan Hegde completed a BSc degree and was pursuing an engineering degree. His friend, Chandrakant Maime, said: “We were completely distraught when we saw him in the hospital. I have known him since I was a child and have seen how well he rode. Eyewitnesses said the car was traveling at high speed during the collision. We demand the immediate arrest of the accused.”