In a chilling incident, Ashwajit Gaikwad, the son of a top Maharashtra bureaucrat, allegedly mowed down his girlfriend with his SUV in Thane recently, seriously injuring her.
The victim, Priya Umendra Singh, 26, a professional beautician, has narrated her shocking ordeal of the murderous attempt on her life in a social media post on the incident and her injuries.
“Need justice… Culprit Ashwajit Anilkumar Gaikwad, son of Anilkumar Gaikwad, Joint Managing Director of Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation,” said Singh on her post.
She also named Ashwajit’s friends, Romil Patil, Prasad Patil and Sagar Shelke, all Thane residents, in her post, plus her boyfriend’s driver-cum-bodyguard, Shiva.
Singh has tagged Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis, Union Minister Smriti Irani, Shiv Sena-UBT’s Aditya Thackeray, in her post with an emotional header: “My boyfriend rammed his car over me and left me dying in pain on the street.”
Despite several attempts by IANS, Anilkumar Gaikwad – who was recently elevated as the MSRDC Vice-Chairman & Managing Director – was not available for comments on the serious allegations against his 34-year-old son, or the incident that happened in the CM’s home district.
The alleged incident occurred on Ovala Road in the Ghodbunder area of the district, and Singh has suffered grievous injuries in the stomach, back, arms and her right leg is broken and in a cast.
Singh also detailed how she was allegedly abused by Ashwajit and his friends, how he invited her to the Courtyard Hotel around 3 a.m. on December 11. There, a bitter fight ensued, when Ashwajit assaulted her, and then his friends Romil, Prasad and Shelke also joined in the attack.
As the situation appeared to worsen, she went to take her bag and mobile from the SUV but the youths allegedly attempted to cause her grave harm by first bulldozing the SUV into her back near a divider, then returned and drove it over her right leg, before speeding away in the darkness.
Surprisingly, Shiva, the SUV driver, turned out to be a Good Samaritan, he left them and rushed to help the bleeding and crying Singh, and also informed her family about the assault. Later they alerted the Thane Police on the entire sordid drama.
The prime accused Ashwajit and his friends reportedly warned the woman against involving the police and even boasted that they would use the political clout of the Gaikwad family.
Meanwhile, based on the complaint of Singh – who is in the ICU of Titan Medicity Hospital – the Kasarvadavali police have lodged a complaint against Ashwajit, Shelke, and the Patil duo (said to be linked to a retired police official), but no arrests have been made so far, even as the victim’s post went viral on social media.
Given the sensitive nature of the case, top Thane police officials remained incommunicado despite attempts to get their version.
(Quaid Najmi can be contacted at: q.najmi@ians.in)
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