Police remand again for Mercedes driver in Bypass car crash case

The man who was at the wheel of the Mercedes Benz that crashed into a stationary Honda City waiting at an EM Bypass signal and killed Minu Dhandhania was sent to police custody again on Wednesday.

Rahul Kedia, whose current police remand is for five days, has been booked under Indian Penal Code sections related to culpable homicide not amounting to murder (part-II), drink driving, rash and negligent driving and mischief. 

If convicted, Kedia, who ran a tax consultancy, can be sent to jail for 10 years.

Police said they had yet to find the speed of the Mercedes Benz when it hit the Honda City at the intersection of EM Bypass and Beleghata Main Road on June 16.

A senior officer said the fatal squad of the traffic police had approached the car manufacturing company with the request to send experts to examine the crash data recorder of the vehicle.

“We are yet to get the reports,” he said.

An officer involved in the probe said Kedia had initially claimed that he was on his way to get medicines for his father when his vehicle crashed.

“We have recorded statements of his family members and found that they were not aware of his movements that night,” an officer said.

The Telegraph could not contact Kedia’s family to verify the police’s version.  The police said they had collected CCTV footage from at least two bar-cum-restaurants where Kedia was seen drinking that night.

“Consuming alcohol is not an offence. But trying to drive in a state of intoxication is,” the officer said.

Officers had earlier said Kedia was inebriated when the Mercedes rammed into the Honda City. The Dhandhanias, residents of New Alipore, were returning home from a vacation abroad when the accident occured.

While Minu Dhandhania died, husband Devkishan was seriously injured. The couple’s sons - Aryan and Rachit - escaped with relatively minor injuries.