A Pandole, booked for Cyrus Mistry accident, had 11 speeding tickets since 2020: Cops
In a latest development, the Palghar police have found that Dr Anahita Pandole, booked for rash and negligent driving which resulted in the deaths of industrialist Cyrus Mistry and her brother-in-law Jehangir in September this year, has a history of traffic rules violations.
According to police officials, a total of 19 e-challans were issued to her from 2020 to 2022 of which 11 of were for speeding. All of these tickets could now be a part of the chargesheet against her which is to be filed this week.
“The challans were issued against the vehicle involved in the accident that killed Mistry and Jehangir. When we obtained details of these challans from the Mumbai traffic police, we found that Anahita was captured by speed cameras behind the wheel of the car in these instances,” said Palghar superintendent of police Balasaheb Patil.
“Further inquiries established that the car, registered in the name of JM Financials, is owned by the Pandoles and it was being used by Anahita,” he added.
HT independently verified with the Mumbai traffic police that 11 of the 19 e-challans issued against Dr Pandole’s car are for speed limit violations. Nine of these were issued in 2021 while 2 were issued in 2022. 17 of the 19 challans have been paid.
In one of the two challans this year, one was registered in Thane where the car was caught on camera for speeding, while two of the challans issued last year were in Pune and Wada, again for speeding.
The Kasa police case is based on an analysis report submitted by Mercedes Benz which confirmed that Anahita was over the speed limit at the time of the accident.
The report states that until five seconds before collision, the car was being driven at 100 kmph, and that she hit the brakes 3.5 seconds before the impact, bringing the car’s speed down to 89 kmph. As a result of the sudden braking, Mistry and Jehangir, who were in the rear passenger seats, collided hard with the backrests of the front seats, leading to severe injuries.
The police also recorded Darius’s statement after he was discharged from the hospital. He told them that Dr Pandole was unable to avoid the concrete barrier in time due to the speed at which she was driving.
The police have so far been unable to record a statement from Dr Anahita, as she is yet to get fitness clearance from the medical team.
The police, however, have said her statement is not mandatory for the chargesheet to be filed.
“Apart from the Mercedes Benz report and Darius’s statement, we also have reports from the Regional Transport Office (RTO) and eye witness accounts as well as the e-challan details,” said Palghar superintendent of police Balasaheb Patil.
On September 4 this year, Dr Pandole was driving from Udwada to Mumbai when the SUV crashed into a concrete barrier in Palghar on the National Highway 48. Mistry and Jehangir were killed in the accident while she and her husband Darius Pandole sustained serious injuries. Darius was discharged from the hospital in November, but Dr Pandole is still recovering at the Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital.
On November 5, the Kasa police in Palghar booked Anahita for causing death and injury due to rash and negligent driving under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).