Banastarim Accident Case:
Chargesheet filed
* Paresh, Palekar among 7 named
Team Goemkarponn
PANAJI: In the August 6, 2023, Banastarim deadly accident case, in which three people died, Crime branch police named seven people, including the primary accused Paresh Sawardekar, in a chargesheet filed before Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC), Ponda.
The 1,158-page chargesheet also names Amit Palekar, Ganesh Lamani, Abhijeet Shetye, Vishnu Tarcar, Atrey Sawant, and Prajyot Chodankar as additional accused.
According to Rahul Gupta, Superintendent of Police, Crime Branch, the investigation revealed that Sawardekar, the accused, had caused an accident on the Banastarim bridge on August 6, 2023, at 7:30 p.m., while driving towards Panaji.
“Caused four people to suffer severe injuries, three people to die, and other people to suffer minor injuries. Without notifying the police or providing medical attention to the injured, he left the scene of the collision, according to Gupta.
At Sawant’s Tivrem home, a plot was hatched by the accused Sawardekar, Palekar, Lamani, Shetye, Tarcar, Sawant, and Chodankar. Their goal was to protect Sawardekar from prosecution by having Ganesh Lamani pose as the driver of the fancy car that had caused the collision.
“They misled the investigation, caused the evidence to disappear, and gave police false information about the offence,” Gupta claimed.
Recall that a couple from Divar named Suresh and Bhavana Fadte, as well as Arup Karmakar, perished in the Banastarim accident when the luxury vehicle collided with their two-wheelers close to the Banastarim bridge.
According to sources, the Crime branch police had received different forensic results, which included the medical examination report on who was possibly behind the wheel.
In this case, the police have called upon 121 witnesses. The Indian Penal Code’s Sections 279, 304, 337, 338, 201, 203, 212, 120-B, and 419, as well as the Motor Vehicle Act’s Sections 134(a) and 134(b), 185, and Rules 6 and 7 of the Motor Vehicle (Driving) Regulations 2017 are among the sections under which the chargesheet has been filed.
