A shopping trip to a nearby mall turned fatal for three year old Isha Vishwakarma while her mother and three neighbors were seriously injured. Monday afternoon at 2.40 pm as these persons were standing at the median to cross the road at Baner, an oncoming car crashed into the divider and into the five standing people, two of them kids.
Isha was killed instantly while the others were immediately removed to nearby hospitals. These injured included Pooja (24) Isha’s mother besides Sajid Shaikh (4), his uncle Shaijad Shaikh (30) and aunt Nisha Shaikh (25). The driver of the car, Sujata Jayprakash Shroff was apparently talking on the phone when the accident took place. Since the accident, Isha’s mother Pooja too has succumbed to her injuries at the private hospital on Tuesday morning.
CCTV footage of the area showed that these five persons, all carrying shopping bags were standing on the median to cross the road. Footage also shows the car speeding in and hitting all five persons. The impact of the crash was so great that Isha was thrown off into the air. The car then came to a halt only after hitting a pole some distance away.
Shroff stated that she felt dizzy and lost control of the car causing the accident but eye witnesses claim that she was talking on her mobile phone. Sujata Jayprakash Shroff is a Director in a Pune based construction company called Shroff Group.
Senior Inspector Dayanand Dhome of the Chaturshrungi Police Station stated that details of call details are awaited to ascertain timing and duration of the call. An FIR has been registered for both rash driving and causing death and serious injury due to negligence. A medical examination of Shroff has also been undertaken to register this FIR. Though Sujata was arrested, she was granted bail within an hour.
