Jun 17, (NDTV): The 42-year-old initially tried to speed away when she was caught in an inebriated state at Bandra Reclamation yesterday; the two-hour drama, during which she even threatened the cops, followed when she was chased down

‘Born to be wild’ was Steppenwolf’s anthem of rebellion back in the late 60s. A Worli resident seemed to have taken too much inspiration from the song when she locked herself up in her car and began smoking a cigarette after being caught for drink driving in the wee hours of yesterday.

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The accused was identified as Shivani Bali (42), a resident of Worli who works with a private firm. Bali was on her way home after consuming drinks at a party in Khar. In light of the horrifying accident involving Janhavi Gadkar, in which two people had died after the sloshed corporate lawyer had rammed her Audi into a taxi, traffic cops had asked their team to keep a strict watch on drunk drivers.

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When Bali reached Bandra Reclamation, traffic police stopped her at a nakabandi. Suspecting that she was drunk, they subjected her to a breathalyser test, which confirmed their suspicions. Police then asked Bali to step out of the vehicle, but, she sped away. Police followed her and managed to get her to halt.

Can’t hear you

The drama was, however, only beginning. Instead of following the law-enforcers’ orders, the sozzled Bali locked her car and refused to come out. She allegedly abused the cops and started taking their photographs on her cellphone, accusing them of not knowing the protocol for dealing with a woman.

This, despite female traffic police officers being present on the spot. Bali then put on loud music and lit up a cigarette. As she smoked cigarette after cigarette with the doors closed and windows rolled up, police began worrying she would suffocate.

They had to call in an expert to pry open the car’s windows. Two hours after they had stopped Bali, they managed to open the door and extricate her from the vehicle. According to the Bandra police, after stepping out, Bali began threatening the traffic police. “You don’t know my father; all of you will be suspended if he comes to know you stopped my car,” she allegedly said.

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Bali was taken to the Bandra police station and booked under relevant sections of the Motor Vehicles Act. The police have seized Bali’s car, its documents and her driving licence and levied a fine of Rs 2,000. Bali was also required to present herself before the court yesterday, but she failed to show up.

“We are going to send her a summons after she failed to appear before the court today (Tuesday). She has been booked under Section 185 (drunken driving or driving under the influence of drugs) of the Motor Vehicles Act and Section 110 (pertaining to indecent behaviour) of the Bombay Police Act,” said Pradeep Chavan, Senior PI, Bandra Traffic division.