Sushil Kothari Walkeshwar builder Accident on MArine Drive - Pic

When Walkeshwar-based builder Sushil Kothari settled behind the wheel of his white Honda Accord around 1.30 am on Wednesday morning, he had just finished half a bottle of expensive whisky at a dinner with six relatives and friends at Hotel Intercontinental. It was an intimate friends-and-family gathering to celebrate the birth of Kothari's daughter two months ago.
    He was on a high.
    Just minutes later, after he dropped a relative at Trident, he snuffed a life out as his speeding Accord hit a Honda Activa scooter, flinging its rider, Abdul Jaleel, 42, and the pillion, Haji Zulfiqar Alam Qureshi, 48, onto the road. Qureshi, a scrap dealer, died on the spot, while Jaleel, a trader of soaps, suffered serious injuries to his legs and back. The two friends were out on a spin after the 11.30 pm namaaz.
    Jaleel later told this reporter at Saifee hospital that he and his friend were discussing a family problem when the car hit them. "It was a big car and it was really flying...you must speak to my friend too."
    Jaleel had not been told that his friend was no more.
    Kothari, who was allegedly doing 250 km/hr when he hit the scooter, sped away, chased by two police teams and eyewitnesses, including some friends of Jaleel and Qureshi. He jumped a nakabandi and crashed to a halt near Raj Bhavan after ramming into three cars – two Santros and an Indigo. Kothari, 30, director, KBK Group, himself was saved from grievous injury as the air bags in his Honda deployed just in time.
    But the series of tragedies that Kothari set off at 1.30 am continued into the next morning with an aunt of deceased Qureshi dying of shock on learning about the accident.
    Initially, after Kothari hit the scooter, two traffic policemen began chasing him. They then alerted the DB Marg police station and another team joined the chase. As the accused entered the jurisdiction of Malabar Hill police, one of their teams too began tailing him.
    Kothari lost control of his car near Raj Bhavan on the Walkeshwar incline and rammed into three cars parked by the side of the road.
    A police officer, who was at the spot, said as Kothari was pulled out of the mangled car, he looked completely dazed. "He was completely blank...not answering questions and showing no reaction to abuses hurled at him by some of the eyewitnesses who had joined the chase," said an officer.
    After medical tests at J J Hospital, Kothari was brought to the Malabar Hill police station, but was shifted to Gamdevi lock-up at 4 am as a mob comprising his angry friends and family gathered.
    His father, Rajendra Kothari, was surrounded by a hostile crowd as he arrived at the Gamdevi police station. "My son's act was not intentional. I request everyone to forgive him," he said, his hands folded, and added that he had no idea his son was out drinking.
    When somebody in the crowd asked if Sushil was a regular drinker, Kothari said, "I don't interfere in his personal matters and have no idea about his habits."
    In his confession to the cops, Kothari said he had consumed only two pegs. "He told us he was not used to drinking and that was the reason he could not hold his drink," said Senior Police Inspector Zungarao Gharal.
    Deputy Commissioner of Police Chhering Dorje said Kothari has been booked under relevant sections of the IPC for rash driving and culpable homicide. Quoting a medical report, he confirmed that the accused tested positive for alcohol, but refused to reveal the exact level of alcohol in his blood.
    A source in JJ Hospital said Kothari's blood contained 449 mg of alcohol, which is 30 times more than the permissible level. A source said that when he was being taken to the hospital he could not even stand on his feet and was swaying.
    The Girgaum Metropolitan Magistrate Court, later in the day, granted bail to Kothari on rash driving charges