Nephew of Pune MP arrested after SUV rammed bike on national highway, 1 dead

The accused Mayur Mohite has been arrested and further investigations are underway, police said.

Pune:

A 19-year-old man died when the car of a Maharashtra MP’s nephew hit a bicycle on the Pune-Nashik national highway last night.

Police have registered a case and arrested Mayur Mohite, the nephew of Dilip Mohite Patil, MP from Khed Alandi constituency in Pune district. Dilip Mohite Patil belongs to the Ajit Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

The victim has been identified as Om Bhalerao. A police official told news agency PTI that the Toyota Fortuner SUV driven by Mayur Mohite came from the wrong side and hit the motorcycle head-on. Further investigation, police said, is on.

In a media statement after the accident, the MP said his nephew did not flee the scene of the accident. He also stressed that he was not drunk.

The incident has once again put reckless driving in Pune under the spotlight. Last month, two 24-year-old software engineers died when a speeding Porsche, allegedly driven by the 17-year-old son of a prominent real estate agent, rammed their motorcycle from behind.

The teenager accused of driving while drunk was released on bail within 15 hours of the accident, with conditions widely considered lenient, sparking nationwide outrage and prompting the Juvenile Justice Authority to change its order and send the accused to an observation home.

Police have since found evidence that the teenager’s family members tried to cover up the incident and several of them have been arrested.