A 24-year-old engineer from Ulwe, Navi Mumbai, was found dead on a Kurla road in what police suspect was a hit-and-run accident. The man had gone to sleep at home but later left on his bike at night. With no CCTV at the spot, police are probing how he reached Kurla and who hit him
Deceased’s uncle Santosh Gaikwad (red kurta); deceased Rishikesh Gaikwad. PICS/BY SPECIAL ARRANGEMENT
A late-night phone call shattered a family’s peace after a 24-year-old man, who had gone to sleep at his home in Ulwe, Navi Mumbai, was found dead several kilometres away on a Kurla road in what police suspect to be a hit-and-run accident.
The deceased has been identified as Rishikesh Mangesh Gaikwad, an engineer employed with a firm in Mahape. His uncle and legal guardian, Santosh Gaikwad, 45, said he had been caring for Rishikesh since childhood. “Rishikesh lost his parents at a very young age. His father, my brother Mangesh, was killed in a road accident at the same age as Rishikesh. The similarity is deeply painful for our family,” said Santosh, an advocate by profession.
With no clarity on why he stepped out in the middle of the night or how he reached Kurla, the victim’s death has left his family and the police with several unanswered questions. According to the police, the family had dinner together before retiring for the night on Friday. Santosh’s 14-year-old son and Rishikesh went to sleep in the hall, while Santosh retired to the bedroom with his wife.
After a while, Santosh received a call from the police, who informed him about the accident and that Rishikesh had been admitted to Bhabha Hospital in Kurla West. “At first we thought it was a prank call because Rishikesh was sleeping in the room next door. But when we peeped in, it was my younger son sleeping alone. That’s when it hit us,” said Santosh. The family rushed to the hospital, where doctors identified the injured man as Rishikesh and declared him dead before admission.
During enquiries at the hospital, police recorded statements of two autorickshaw drivers identified as Shane Alam Syed and Farqan Salil Inamdar. In their statement, they said they found Rishikesh lying injured between 1.30 am and 2 am on the Chembur–Santacruz road near CST Bridge in Kurla. The duo told police they first took him to Noor Hospital, where treatment was allegedly refused, following which they shifted him to Bhabha Hospital.
“We went to the spot to verify but realised there wasn’t a single CCTV camera in the vicinity. It is a major road connector, yet it remains a dark stretch,” said Santosh. He added that the motorcycle Rishikesh was riding had a severe dent at the rear, while his helmet was completely damaged. “There were no visible external injuries on his body. The post-mortem report mentions internal haemorrhage, indicating a head injury. We suspect his bike was hit from behind, throwing him onto the road,” he said.
Santosh further said the motorcycle had been gifted to Rishikesh by him and his wife in 2022 on his birthday. “The vehicle number even matched his birth date,” he added. The family has no clue why Rishikesh left home in the night, that too without informing anyone. CCTV footage from the building (in Ulwe) shows him leaving on his bike at around 1 am. Santosh, meanwhile, added, “The last call was made between 1.34 and 1.36 am by him to his aunt. We got to know this the next day when she contacted us saying she missed two calls from Rishikesh. We are guessing he called his aunt to seek help after the accident.”
Vikas Mhamunkar, senior police inspector, Kurla police station, told mid-day that there is no CCTV coverage on the bridge where the accident occurred. “The accident took place in the middle of the stretch, and the timing was such that there were barely any eyewitnesses,” he said. “However, a team has been assigned to investigate the case. We are checking CCTV footage from adjoining roads and examining vehicles that passed through the area around the time of the accident to ascertain what happened and identify those responsible.”
Police said they have registered a case against an unidentified driver under sections of the Motor Vehicles Act and Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for rash driving and causing death by negligence.
Subscribe today by clicking the link and stay updated with the latest news!" Click here!
