Team Herald
PANJIM: After a year-long investigation in the infamous Banastarim ‘killer Merc’ accident case, the Crime Branch finally filed a 1,158-page chargesheet against seven persons including the main accused Paresh Sawardekar and Adv Amit Palekar as the co-accused.
The chargesheet includes testimonies of 121 witnesses in the horrific accident which snuffed out three innocent lives and left three others injured.
The accused persons have been chargesheeted under Sections 279, 304, 337, 338, 201, 203, 212, 120-B, 419 of the IPC, Sections 134 (a) and 134 (b), 185 of Motor Vehicle Act and Rule 6 and 7 of Motor Vehicle (Driving) Regulations 2017.
On August 6, 2023, the accused driver of the ‘killer Merc’ Paresh Sawardekar was involved in a high speed SUV crash which occurred at 7.30 pm on Banastarim Bridge.
Suresh and Bhavana Phadte, a couple from Divar and Anup Karmakar, a native of West Bengal, died on the spot. Four sustained grievous injuries and four others sustained simple injuries.
Spot investigation revealed that Sawardekar crossed the divider line of the road, went into the right lane and rammed into oncoming two motorcycles and car. Multiple cars and two wheelers were damaged in the accident.
According to the chargesheet, the investigation conducted in this case has transpired that the accused Sawardekar committed an offence of causing an accident under the influence of alcohol at Banastarim Bridge and further fled from the scene of accident without providing medical assistance to the injured and without informing the police.
He is also accused of attempting to plant his driver Ganesh Lamani as an imposter driver. Sawardekar also provided false information to the police about the case to avoid legal punishment and destroyed the evidence.
As per police investigation, the conspiracy was hatched at the residence of Atrey Sawant at Tivrem.
The accused Paresh Sawardekar, Amit Palekar, Ganesh Lamani, Abhijeet Shetye, Vishnu Tarcar, Atrey Sawant and Prajyot Chodankar also have been booked under sections for hatching a conspiracy with their common intention to shield Paresh from legal punishment and planted imposter driver as the driver of Mercedes vehicle that caused the accident.
They have been accused of destroying evidence, giving false information about the offence to the Mardol Police and misleading the investigation.
This case had several twists and turns during the initial stages. The government later decided to transfer the case to the Crime Branch for investigation. Following initial complaints, the victim families also filed additional complaints in the matter.