Mumbai, Aug 14 (IANS): A 36-year-old rickshaw driver, Ganesh Yadav, was killed after being run over by a white SUV while sleeping on Mumbai's Versova Beach along with his friend, the police said on Wednesday.

The police have registered a case of culpable homicide against two individuals and arrested them.

This includes the driver of the SUV, who fled the scene after the incident that took place in the early hours of Monday.

Ganesh Yadav and his friend, Bablu Srivastava, had decided to sleep on the cool sand on Versova Beach to escape the extreme heat in their room.

They were sleeping in an area that was out of bounds for all vehicles.

However, Bablu was awakened from his sleep by the noise of screeching brakes and people screaming.

To his horror he saw that a White SUV had run over his friend Ganesh. Bablu saw two men exit the vehicle, attempt to check on Ganesh, and then flee when he did not respond.

Versova Police arrived promptly at the scene after receiving information about the incident and rushed Ganesh to Cooper Hospital, where he was pronounced brought dead.

The police registered a case under various Sections of the IPC.

The suspects, identified as Nikhil Jawale (34) and his friend Shubham Dongre (33), were arrested within hours of the crime according to a senior police officer.

Their blood samples are being tested for further investigation.

The suspects were presented in Andheri Court and remanded in police custody for five days.

Bablu, who had a narrow escape, is now in a state of shock.

Despite restrictions on vehicles accessing the beach, the SUV managed to reach the area through the nearby slums, leading to the tragedy.

Hit-and-run cases have become increasingly common in recent days in Maharashtra.

In July, in a similar incident, a woman died, and her husband was injured in the city's Worli area when a BMW sedan rammed a two-wheeler.