The cab driver involved in the fatal collision with Avtar Saini, the former Intel India country head, admitted to the police that he dozed off behind the wheel as he was “driving all night”. The accident occurred on Palm Beach Road in Maharashtra’s Navi Mumbai on Wednesday when Avtar Saini was on a cycling expedition with his group.
“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,” a police official was quoted by PTI as saying.
The cab hit Avtar Saini's bicycle from behind and the force of the impact was significant enough to lodge the bicycle frame beneath the front wheels of the cab. In an attempt to escape, the driver proceeded to drag the bicycle for a distance of one kilometer.
Avtar Saini was rushed to the nearby hospital but succumbed to his injuries. His colleagues expressed their condolences on his demise and outlined his contributions to the technology space. While elaborating on his work, one of his colleagues mentioned his role in the development of Intel 386 and 486 microprocessors, and how he played a pivotal role in steering the design of the renowned Pentium processor.
The police have registered a case against 23-year-old Rishikesh Khade under section 279 (rash driving), 337 (causing hurt by doing an act rashly or negligently to endanger human life), and 304-A (causing death of any person by doing any rash or negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
The officials have not arrested the accused yet as the punishment for the above sections in below 7 years. “But the accused has not been arrested so far as the maximum imprisonment for sections applied against him is below seven years,” the police officer added.
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