Woman Killed, Six Injured After Electric Car Rams Vehicles at Malad Signal
A 34-year-old woman was killed and six people were injured after a speeding electric car crashed into vehicles halted at a traffic signal at the SV Road junction in Malad (West), Mumbai, on the night of August 30.
The incident occurred around 8 pm on a Sunday when multiple vehicles had stopped for a red light. A couple on a two-wheeler had stopped at the junction alongside an auto-rickshaw at a zebra crossing, with several other two-wheelers and three-wheelers waiting nearby. Approximately ten seconds later, an MG Windsor electric car rammed into a pedestrian crossing the road, a motorcycle carrying the couple, and three auto-rickshaws, throwing people into the air as the car continued ahead uncontrollably.
Priyanka Mayank Satra, 34, who was riding pillion with her husband, succumbed to her injuries at the scene. Her husband, Mayank Satra, sustained severe fractures and spinal injuries and was admitted to a hospital for treatment.
Three auto-rickshaw drivers, identified as Subhedar Chandra Gautam, Ramkesh Rajbhar, and Abdul Rehman Shaikh, were also injured in the crash. Additionally, an auto-rickshaw passenger, 48-year-old Zaitun Bi Imam, suffered serious head injuries and was transported to Babasaheb Ambedkar Hospital.
The driver of the electric vehicle, 70-year-old real estate developer Krishna Shantaram Chamankar, was taken into police custody. During questioning, Chamankar, a partner at KS Chamankar Enterprises who had previously faced scrutiny in the Maharashtra Sadan money laundering scam, told investigators that he mistakenly pressed the accelerator instead of the brake pedal. Police confirmed that his blood-alcohol test returned negative.
Following the crash, local traders, lawyers, relatives of the victims, and local residents gathered outside the Malad Police Station to protest. Demonstrators alleged that Chamankar was receiving preferential treatment, claiming he was given access to his mobile phone and placed in an air-conditioned room inside the station.
Police have registered a case against Chamankar under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for rash driving and causing death by negligence, along with relevant sections of the Motor Vehicles Act.
