08 February,2026 12:46 AM IST | Mumbai | mid-day online correspondent
The accident had led to a massive traffic jam. File Pic/PTI
Days after the massive Mumbai-Pune Expressway traffic jam, lasting nearly 33 hours and leaving thousands of motorists stranded, the police have booked the tanker driver for driving in rash and negligent manner, officials said.
Police have registered an FIR against the driver of a gas tanker that was involved in the accident.
The case was registered days after the incident, officials said on Sunday.
The driver, identified as Ratan Singh Uday Narayan Singh (44), a resident of Azamgarh in Uttar Pradesh, has been booked at Khopoli police station in Raigad district, reported the PTI.
He has been charged with rash and dangerous driving and with endangering the life and personal safety of others, a police officer said.
The tanker, which was carrying highly flammable propylene gas, overturned near the Adoshi tunnel in Raigad district at around 5 pm on February 3.
Police said the tanker was allegedly speeding when the driver lost control while driving downhill.
The vehicle was travelling from Kochi to Gujarat, officials added.
Both the driver and his aide were injured in the accident and were admitted to a private hospital in Navi Mumbai.
The case has been registered under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyay Sanhita and the Motor Vehicles Act. Police said further investigation is underway, according to the PTI.
Traffic on the Mumbai-bound carriageway of the expressway was finally restored in the early hours of February 5, nearly 33 hours after the accident.
Struck for hours in expressway traffic jam, a Pune-based industrialist Sudhir Mehta took a helicopter to return to the city, reported the PTI.
He was reportedly stranded for nearly eight hours on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway due to a massive traffic jam caused by an overturned gas tanker.
Traffic on the expressway remained disrupted for more than 30 hours after the accident, which occurred on Tuesday evening. Movement was suspended as a safety measure after the tanker began leaking highly flammable propylene gas.
Sudhir Mehta, Chairman of Pinnacle Industries and EKA Mobility, shared his experience in a post on social media platform X on Wednesday. He also posted aerial photographs showing long stretches of vehicles stuck on the expressway, according to the PTI.
Commenting on the situation, Mehta said the incident underlined the urgent need for better emergency preparedness on high-speed corridors such as the Mumbai-Pune Expressway, the news agency reported.
(with PTI inputs)
