Maharashtra: SIT To Probe Bureaucrat's Son Accused Of Running Car Over Girlfriend In Thane, DCP To Head Investigation

A special investigation team (SIT) will investigate the case of a senior bureaucrat's son allegedly running a car over his girlfriend in Thane. 

A Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP)-rank officer will head the SIT probing the case. While an FIR has been lodged in the case, no arrest has been made so far.

In the case from Thane, a 26-year-old woman has alleged that her boyfriend tried to mow her down with her car on December 11. The accused has been identified as Ashwajit Gaikwad, the son of Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation (MSRDC) MD Anilkumar Gaikwad. 

Ashwajit is also associated with the Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM), the youth wing of the Maharashtra's ruling coalition partner Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), according to The Indian Express. 

In her statement to media, the woman said that the police did not take action on her complaint initially and only acted after she posted about the incident on social media. She said that Ashwajit got aggressive with her and attacked her when she had gone to meet him at a hotel. 

SIT To Conduct Thorough Probe: Police

Thane Police Commissioner Jai Jeet Singh on Sunday said that the SIT would conduct a "thorough" probe in the incident. 

DCP (Zone 5) Amar Singh is going to lead the SIT probe, according to The Express. 

"Statements of witnesses are being recorded, and forensic evidence is being collected. Further sections of the law will be added and accused implicated as and if further facts are disclosed during the investigation," said Thane Commissioner Singh, as per The Express. 

The police have registered the FIR against Ashwajit and two others under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

The police have registered a case against accused Ashwajit and two others under sections 323 (voluntarily causing hurt), 279 (rash driving), 504 (intentional insult with intent to provoke breach of the peace) at the Kasarvadavali Police Station, reported PTI.

What We Know So Far

The incident took place around 4:30 am on December 11 near a hotel on Ghodbunder Road in Thane, according to the police. 

The woman, identified as Priya Singh, had gone to the hotel to meet Ashwajit, who allegedly tried to run her over with a car after an altercation between the two.

In a statement to the media, Singh said that she and Ashwajit were in a relationship for a long time and were "completely in love with each other". She further said that she did not initially know that Ashwajit was already married. She added that he was with his wife when she went to meet him at the hotel and an argument followed. 

"He said he wanted to marry me. I was staying with him for a long time...I did not know earlier that he was married. Later, when I came to know he told me that they [his wife and him] were not together anymore. They had separated...He said he wanted to marry me. I was staying with him for a long time," said Singh to ANI, a beautician by profession. 

Singh further said that the police only took action in the case after the case was raised on the social media.

"When I went to meet him that night, he was with his wife. I was in shock. When I went to talk to him, he got aggressive. We had a fight. Three bones in my right leg are broken, it has been operated on. From my left shoulder to my hips, I have deep injuries...I cannot move my body. Four days ago I went to file an FIR, the day all this happened. But no action was taken. Today, when I posted on social media, the police have supported me today," said Singh to ANI.

The Express further quoted Singh as naming Ashwajit's friend Romil Patil and driver Sagar Shelke. She said that when she went to get her bag from his car, the three of them drove off after injuring her.