17-year-old pillion rider killed in hit-and-run at WEH

Mumbai: A 17-year-old pillion rider died on Western Express Highway (WEH) in Dahisar East on Saturday and his 18-year-old friend who was riding the bike sustained injuries after an unidentified four-wheeler brushed past their two-wheeler in an attempt to overtake them.

According to the police, the incident occurred at 4pm on Saturday when three students of Thakur College Kandivali East were returning from a garage after buying some spare parts for their bike. “Aditya Velankar, who died in the accident, was riding pillion with Karan Rajput, while their friend Piyush Shukla was following them on his bike,” said an officer.

Rajput, who is currently recuperating at a hospital, told the police that he was speeding his bike and lost control when the four-wheeler suddenly brushed past his bike in an attempt to overtake them. The impact was so strong that both Rajput and Velankar fell, skidding away from the road. This caused severe head injuries to Velankar who was not wearing his helmet.

“As I got up to check on Velankar, I saw him bleeding through his nose and head while the four wheeler driver had fled from the spot without stopping to help us,” Rajput told the police.

The injured teen stays in Kandivali East and his father is a delivery partner with an online food aggregator while his mother works at a private firm.

The police said that the passersby and his friends rushed Velankar to the Seven Star Hospital in Kandivali where he succumbed to his injuries.

The police have booked an unidentified four-wheeler driver who fled from the accident spot for culpable homicide not amounting to murder under section 106 (1) and sections 134 and 184 for rash and negligent driving of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. “We are tracing the driver of the four-wheeler with the help of the CCTV cameras on the WeH,” said a police officer from Dahisar police station.