Pune:

A 19-year-old man has died after a car driven by the nephew of a Maharashtra MLA hit a bike on Pune-Nashik national highway last night.

Police have registered a case and arrested Mayur Mohite; he is the nephew of Dilip Mohite Patil, MLA from Pune district’s Khed Alandi Assembly segment. Dilip Mohite Patil belongs to the Ajit Pawar faction of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP).

The victim has been identified as Om Bhalerao. A police officer has told news agency PTI that the Toyota Fortuner SUV driven by Mayur Mohite was coming from the wrong side and hit the bike head on. Further probe, police said, is on.

In a statement to the media in the aftermath of the accident, the legislator has said that his nephew did not flee the spot. He has also stressed that he was not intoxicated.

The incident has yet again put rash driving in Pune under the spotlight. Last month, two 24-year-old software engineers died after a speeding Porsche, allegedly driven by the 17-year-old son of a prominent realtor, hit their bike from behind.

The teen accused, who was driving drunk, was out on bail within 15 hours of the accident on terms widely seen as lenient. This sparked national outrage and prompted the Juvenile Justice Board to modify its order and sent the accused to an observation home.

Police have since found evidence of how the family members of the teen attempted a cover-up and several of them have been arrested.