Driver, whose cab fatally hit ex-Intel India head, says he lost control over vehicle as he dozed off
Thane (PTI): The driver of the cab that fatally knocked down former Intel India country head Avtar Saini in Maharashtra's Navi Mumbai, has told the police that he lost control over the vehicle as he dozed off because he was driving all night, an official said on Friday.
The police have registered a case against the driver, Rishikesh Khade (23) following the incident that occurred around 5.50 am on Wednesday on the Palm Beach Road in Navi Mumbai's Nerul area.
The speeding cab hit Saini while he was cycling. The cab hit Saini's bicycle from behind and Khade then tried to escape from the spot with the bicycle's frame wedged under the front wheels of the cab. Saini's companions rushed him to a hospital where he was declared dead on arrival, the police said.
ALSO READ: Ex-Intel India head killed after being knocked down by speeding cab in Navi Mumbai
"During his interrogation, Khade told the police that he dozed off as he was driving all night, due to which he lost control over the cab that knocked down Saini's bicycle," an official of NRI police station said.
Khade was booked under various Indian Penal Code (IPC) sections, including 279 (rash driving), 337 (causing hurt by doing an act rashly or negligently so as to endanger human life) and 304-A (causing death of any person by doing any rash or negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide), and provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act.
"But the accused has not been arrested so far as the maximum imprisonment for sections applied against him is below seven years," the police official said.
Saini, a resident of suburban Chembur in Mumbai, was credited with working on the Intel 386 and 486 microprocessors. He also went on to lead the design of the company's Pentium processor.
The police said they are waiting for Saini's relatives to claim his body as they reside abroad and are on their way to India for his last rites.
Let the Truth be known. If you read VB and like VB, please be a VB Supporter and Help us deliver the Truth to one and all.
Remove 20 per cent export duty on onions: Ajit Pawar to Centre
Nagpur (PTI): Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar on Thursday urged the BJP-led Centre to remove the 20 per cent levy on onion exports and provide relief to the grower of the bulbous vegetable.
In a letter to Union Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal, Pawar highlighted the issues concerning farmers from Nashik district, where onion is grown in large quantities.
“The onions grown here (in Nashik) are available in other states of India and also exported in large quantities. As of today, onions from the summer yield have been exhausted and the fresh crop has reached various (Agriculture Produce) Market Committees in Maharashtra,” Pawar wrote.
Due to the arrival of a large stock of onions, farmers are now in distress as they are forced to sell their produce at a much lower rate since they have yet to receive any minimum support price, said Pawar. They are selling onions at an average of Rs 2,400 per quintal, he said.
Unseasonal rains and changing climate have already caused a huge dent in the earnings of onion farmers, wrote the NCP leader, who is currently in Nagpur for the Winter Session of Maharashtra's state legislature.
NCP is a partner of the BJP in the ruling Mahayuti coalition in Maharashtra.
If they are further made to receive a rate less than the production cost, the onion farmers will incur a huge loss, said the deputy CM.
Onions from Maharashtra are in great demand abroad, he said. While Maharashtra is the largest onion-producing state in the country, Lasalgaon in the Nashik district has Asia’s largest wholesale market for it.
The Centre has levied a 20 per cent duty on the export of onions due to which the kitchen staple from the state loses its competitiveness in international markets, according to farmers.
The 20 per cent export duty on onions should be removed so that the farmers can heave a sigh of relief and recover some of their losses, Pawar wrote in the letter to Goyal.
