Mumbai, Aug 24 (Mid-day): Aashvi Shah (20), a student of KC College, claims she was startled by a speeding vehicle, causing her to lose control, jump the divider and ram her car into the taxi travelling in the opposite direction; while she and a friend escaped with next to no injuries, the 35-year-old taxi driver was killed and the passenger, an Army man, was severely injured

The dangerously curvy JJ flyover was the site of yet another accident yesterday, with a college student jumping the divider and ramming her car into a taxi travelling in the opposite direction, killing the driver and severely injuring the passenger.

The 20-year-old, who claimed she lost control of her car after a speeding vehicle passed by and startled her, was arrested and booked for causing death due to negligence.

According to the police, Aashvi Shah (20), a resident of Gundecha Gardens in Lalbaug, who is in the third year of the BA course at KC College, was heading home around 8 am yesterday after paying a visit to some relatives in Colaba.

She was driving her Hyundai Verna and a female friend was sleeping in the front passenger seat. When Shah was passing through the Minara Masjid area on the JJ Flyover, a car passed by hers at a very high speed, which led her to panic and lose control of her vehicle.

She swerved hard to the right, jumped the divider and rammed into an oncoming taxi. The force of the impact was such that Shah’s car partially climbed onto the taxi, killing the driver, Rameshkumar Gupta (35), on the spot.

The passenger, an Army man, who was heading home to the Army quarters in Navy Nagar, was also badly injured in the accident. He was rushed to the Ashwini hospital where he was admitted in the ICU and is recuperating. While Shah suffered minor injuries above her eye, her friend escaped unscathed.

Arrest

Traffic on the southbound arm of the flyover came to a standstill. Shah did not flee the spot and was arrested after the police reached. She was taken to the Pydhonie police station, where she told the cops that she was heading home when she was startled by a speeding car, leading to the accident.

Senior Inspector Sunil Kawlekar of the Pydhonie police station said, “Shah is charged under Sections 279 (Rash driving or riding on a public way) and 304A (Causing death by negligence) of the IPC and 184 of the Motor Vehicles Act. She was produced in court in the afternoon and granted bail.”

Speaking to mid-day, Shah said, “I am very disturbed by the incident and I don’t want to talk at the moment. The incident has put my whole career at risk.” Suman Gupta (30) the wife of the deceased taxi driver, said, “I want justice and monetary help. I have three kids, who are 3, 5 and 7 years old. My husband was the sole breadwinner of the family.

We are living in a rented house and have no other relative in Mumbai. Even the taxi was on rent. I don’t know how I will meet the expenses for my kids’ schooling and daily needs. We depended on my husband for our expenses. With him gone, I have no idea how I, a housewife, will manage to sustain us.”