The man who was driving the Mercedes-Benz that slammed into a Honda City and killed one of its occupants, Minu Dhandhania, on Thursday morning, had allegedly consumed alcohol thrice the permissible limit for driving, police said on Friday.
The machine that tested Rahul Kedia’s intoxication detected the presence of 91.6mg alcohol per 100ml of blood, which is a little more than three times the permissible limit, a senior police officer said.
Kedia, a resident of Kadapara in Phoolbagan, was speeding along EM Bypass when he apparently could not negotiate the speed and hit the Honda City, which was stationary at the signal, from behind around 12.55am on Thursday. Minu was killed on the spot.
One of her sons, Rachit, 23, wrote on his Facebook timeline on Friday: “I am a 23-year-old boy who just returned from my parents 25th anniversary trip last night. A drunk man… Rahul Kedia, under the influence of alcohol and heavily intoxicated (proven by police test), rammed into my car waiting at the signal, instantly killing my mother…. My younger brother and I will never get my mom back, and my dad has lost his life partner, but please help me get justice so another son doesn't have to go through this again!”
The tragedy shows yet again the fear of prosecution and arrest has vanished from the minds of many motorists in the city.
The police tried to say they were still on the job. An officer said night patrol was being carried out at 50 locations every night between 10.30pm and 4.30am. "Yet many tend to violate traffic rules at night whenever they find a stretch unmanned," he said.
Several officers who perform night duty on roads said speeding and drink driving were a major problem on empty roads at night.
Section 185 of the motor vehicles act states a person driving a vehicle can be imprisoned for up to six months or asked to pay a fine of Rs 2,000 if alcohol exceeding 30mg per 100ml is detected in the bloodstream through a breathalyser test. Subsequent offences can lead to imprisonment for two years or a fine of Rs 3,000.
Apart from Section 185 of the act, Kedia has been booked under the IPC section related to culpable homicide not amounting to murder (part-II). If convicted, he can be jailed for 10 years.
Minu’s husband Devkishan, 51, took a “discharge against medical advice” from AMRI Salt Lake on Friday afternoon. Hospital officials said he was “stable”.