Naysa Shrivastava, Pune
On Wednesday, BMC (Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation) demolished the illegal portion of Vice Global Tapas bar, where the accused, Mihir Shah (24), had liquor before he rammed his BMW into a two-wheeler and killed a woman named Kaveri Nakhwa (45).
The civic officials mentioned the illegal structure was about 3,500 ft. tall. The demolition comes under Act 351 of the Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, which gave authorities the right to demolish illegal constructions. The building has been in operation since 2022, 20 civic officials and police were present there when JCB demolished the establishment. The authorities told Indian Express, ‘ We have initiated a drive to identify all illegal structures in the K/W ward. Our move will be continuous and will not stay confined to demolishing only one structure.’
The state’s excise department also sent a notice to the bar that drinks are being served to below-legal-age customers in a non-permitted restaurant zone and suspended the licence. Mumbai police investigated the place on Tuesday and sealed it. As claimed by the cops, Mihir was there till late at night on Saturday, partied with his friends, had 12 large pegs and left the bar drunk, he consumed more alcohol after leaving the place. The owner of the bar said that he only had Red Bull, CCTV footage showed, him leaving the place. According to state policy, only 25 or above can consume alcohol. Mihir absconded after he killed Kaveri and police arrested him on Tuesday from Virar. He got caught because the cops tracked the phone of his female friend who helped him in hiding. Eknath Shinde removed Rajesh Shah, father of the accused, from the deputy leader position of Shiv Sena after the incident.
On Thursday, Shah and Rajesh Bidawat, the driver, confessed the crime to the police. Bidawat let Shah drive the car on the instructions of Rajesh Shah. Police informed HindustanTimes that both of them had accepted their crime together during interrogation. The crime scene was recreated to confirm the accusation and in the end, they both told the police, they felt remorse for their actions. The driver was presented in front of S.P Bhosale, Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, after the police remand. Shah will remain in police custody till 16th July.