Mid-Day

Mumbai, May 24: Water tanker driver Rajkumar Nanku Rampal (30) thought he had gotten away with murder last Thursday, when he sped away after ramming into truck into Anup Chavan (23) in Bandra. But on Saturday, he was arrested by the Bandra police – at the same place and same time.

The police had a little extra encouragement to track him down as Chavan was the son of Senior Inspector Bhikusingh Chavan of the police welfare branch.

On May 18, Rampal’s tanker hit Chavan at 2.15 am when he was on his motorcycle at D’Monte Park, Bandra. While Rampal ran away, Anup, who had sustained head injuries, was declared dead before admission to Bhabha Hospital. Pillion rider Arun Soni, who survived the crash, told the cops that he hadn’t managed to write down the tanker’s number.

He, however, did remember that the tanker was green.

Since then, the Bandra police had kept constant vigil at the spot in the hope of nabbing the driver. Constable Namdeo Roopsingh Ade checked around 50 tankers that passed the area.

Finally on Saturday, he arrested Rampal.

“On Saturday, at the same spot in front of D’Monte Park, we saw a green tanker around 2 am. We told him to stop, but the driver did not listen. I also noticed that the tanker’s mudguard had a dent. After we questioned him, Rampal, who works for Jadhav Contractors, confessed to having hit the biker,” said Ade.

“It is difficult to nab an unknown tanker driver, with the vehicle’s colour as the sole lead. It is a commendable effort. It took us over 50 tankers and a little bit of luck to catch the culprit,” says Sup-Inspector Manisha Nalawade of Bandra police station.