Nagpur: The personal assistant (PA) of an MLC known for his influence in eastern Vidarbha, was sent to prison on Wednesday for driving drunk and triggering a series of high-speed collisions, hours after midnight on Dussehra.A 28-year-old delivery boy, Raheel Shakeel Sheikh, suffered critical head injuries in the crash and is battling for life at a private hospital and two vehicles were wrecked in the impact. The neta’s PA was driving back to his Godhani home after attending a party, when he rammed a two-wheeler near Samvidhan Chowk. Sheikh, who was on his way to Yashodhara Nagar, was tossed in the air, before falling with a thud near a roadside tree. The family’s sole bread earner, Sheikh was rushed to hospital, where doctors say his condition is critical.Instead of pressing on the brakes to help the injured man, the allegedly drunk man drove away at top speed and swerved towards the flyover near Kasturchand Park, where his car crashed into a pickup van, before coming to a halt. The politician’s PA was nabbed from the accident spot.The twin collisions could have caused more casualties as the roads were crowded with people and vehicles in the early hours of Dussehra and Dhammachakra Pravartan Din.Rohit Chinchmalkar, the complainant and an eyewitness, told police he too had a narrow escape when the car brushed past him before crashing into Raheel’s two-wheeler. Police rushed to the spot and nabbed the accused, who was so intoxicated that he could barely stand. Sitabuldi police took him to a govt hospital, where doctors confirmed alcohol in his blood.A case of rash and negligent driving endangering life, causing injuries through a dangerous act, and failing to stop and assist after an accident was registered along with charges of drunk driving under Motor Vehicle Act.The accused was produced in court on Wednesday and remanded in judicial custody. Sources hinted at political pressure, but presence of multiple eyewitnesses at the accident site and police action put the case back in focus.
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