PONDA
Tension prevailed as hundreds of people gathered at the Mardol police station late Tuesday evening to demand the arrest of a woman, who they insisted, had been the actual driver of the Mercedes car which struck a number of vehicles and claimed three lives at the Banastarim bridge on Sunday night.
Alleging that the woman is linked to a politician, the people demanded that the police should not succumb to political pressure. They refused to accept the police version that the woman’s husband was at the wheels when the accident took place and insisted that the woman was intoxicated while driving the vehicle and had been involved in the fatal mishap. They alleged that her husband had been arrested and in lockup as part of a cover-up.
At one time, the crowd demanded to see the face of woman’s husband who is lodged in police lockup to ascertain if he is the same person, after rumours had been floating that a different person had been in lockup. Police later allowed a few close relatives of the Phadte family to verify his identity.
The leaders were also engaged in animated discussions with DySP Ashish Shirodkar and PI Mohan Gawade, while a large crowd gathered outside.
The leaders confronted DySP Ashish Shirodkar over the investigations and sought to know why an alcohol test had not been conducted on the woman, despite persistent claims that she had been the actual driver of the vehicle when the accident took place.
MLA Rajesh Phaldesai asked the police not to bow down to political pressure and to arrest the woman who was in the car at the time of the accident.
He said that he has discussed the issue with Chief Minister Pramod Sawant and if need be, he would seek a CBI inquiry into the incident.
“Innocent lives have been lost and I will try to give justice to the family of the deceased,” said Phaldesai.
He also demanded that the police arrest the woman by Wednesday afternoon or else, there would be another morcha to the police station.
Pratima Coutinho alleged that the police had been trying to save the woman who is a relative of one political leader.
The police officials informed the leaders that the law did not permit a woman to be arrested after 5 pm and reportedly told them that necessary action would be taken by Wednesday morning.
The crowd later dispersed form the police station but threatened to march to the Mardol police station if the woman was not arrested by Wednesday afternoon.
