Mumbai: 

Tragedy: Vinod Khatwani (Above) saw the BEST bus at the accident spot in Sion, but could not spot the victim. His brother Hiroo was on the bike (above) when he was hit by the bus. pic/sameer markande

Victim: Hiroo Khatwani was knocked down by a BEST bus under Sion flyover last night

Vinod Khatwani (43) was driving from Sion to meet his brother Hiroo (49) in Chembur at 11 pm, when he cursed his luck. He was already running late, and up ahead on the Eastern Express Highway was a massive traffic jam. Crawling by, he realised there was an accident and spotted a BEST bus with onlookers around it. He looked, but couldn't spot any victim, didn't give it a second thought, and went ahead. "I paid no attention. I guess I was just happy that I was past the jam," said Vinod. He stays in Visakhapatnam, while Hiroo stays alone in Chembur. "I reached at around 11.20 pm, realized my brother wasn't home and called him on his cell phone. A man picked up the phone, said he was a cop, and told me to come to Sion hospital."

"He said the owner of the phone (my brother) had an accident. He did not tell me he was dead," recalls Vinod.

"At Sion hospital I saw my brother's body. I couldn't believe he was no more. Had I known that my brother was the victim in the accident, which caused the traffic jam at Sion, I would have got off and tried to help. I just ignored it…" he said. 

Hiroo was on his way home in Chembur after collecting a parcel from Sion, when a BEST bus knocked him down at 10.30 pm. He was declared dead in hospital. His family - wife and two daughters - stayed in Vizag in a joint family. The body will be taken to Vizag for the last rites. 

The Sion police have booked the bus driver Uttam Dahipade under section 304 of the IPC (death due to negligence).

"We have arrested the driver and investigations are on," said Asst PI S T Salvi from Sion police station.

Added Vinod, "It was supposed to be a get-together, but my visit here has ended in tragedy. I couldn't even help my brother. Had I known that the crowd had gathered because of my brother, I would have done something."

21
The number of  fatal accidents since January 2008 by BEST