When The Bank's Full, Don't Drive

Chatterjee, 49, South Asia regional head (corporate affairs) of Standard Chartered Bank, was first stopped by a beat marshal at 10.30 that night, after his car banged a Hyundai Getz from behind. Both drivers got into a heated exchange, holding up traffic. Chatterjee then sped off instead of pulling his car over to the side of the road. It was while making a getaway that he ran over Dhuri, who was crossing the road. Chatterjee’s black Mercedes sportscar was chased all the way to the Bandra flyover and intercepted by traffic police.

Reports say that Chatterjee got into a scuffle with the police, hurling abuses, even dropping the names of senior officers to avoid arrest. He was taken to Mahim police station and released on a Rs 10,000 personal bond on Sunday morning. Preliminary reports suggest that Chatterjee was drunk.

"You bank on a banker," observed Deputy Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Arup Patnaik. "This is the V-P of a reputed bank, not an industrialist’s son or a rich, young girl driving. He gets drunk, and then he gets hold of a sports-model Mercedes and puts it on the road, which itself is a crime when our streets are so congested. Then he runs over a man, does nothing to help him and evades arrest. It isn’t as innocuous as it seems."Chatterjee has been booked under Sections 304(a), 134(a&b) and 153(a) of the Indian Penal Code for rash and negligent driving causing death and using criminal force to prevent a public servant from discharging his duty. He faces a charge of culpable homicide once the medical reports are confirmed.