‘Attempt to run over cops’ charge against drunk hotelier now

Mumbai: The charge of attempt to commit culpable homicide (Section 110 of BNS) has now been invoked against the 40-year-old hotel chain owner from Worli who allegedly tried to run over police personnel at a nakabandi, crashed his SUV into a security barricade, two police vehicles, a BMW, an auto and three bikes, and led police on a dramatic 30-minute chase in Andheri East in the early hours of Nov 28."We added Section 110 because his act endangered the life of the police personnel and others on road," said ACP Shashikant Bhosale. The charge is non-bailable and carries a jail term of three to seven years and/or a fine. Police had earlier booked the hotelier, Sabyasachi Nishank, under Sections 281 (rash driving) and 324 (causing wrongful loss or damage to individuals or public) of BNS as well as Section 185 (drunk driving) of Motor Vehicles Act.Nishank's medical examination revealed that his blood alcohol content exceeded the permissible limit. Four bottles of alcohol were found in his SUV at the time of his arrest. He will be produced in an Andheri court after his police custody ends on Monday.An officer who was part of the 4.9km chase said Nishank was driving towards Andheri with his girlfriend after dropping a friend when he was asked to halt for a drunk driving check near Gokhale bridge. An SI and four constables were conducting breathalyser tests. One of the constables, Jaywant More of Sahar traffic police, said in the FIR Nishank stepped on the accelerator when asked to roll down his window. "He tried to run over me and a police officer who was in charge... He drove through the security barricade after hitting the patrol car and sped towards Tab Junction where he hit another police car and a few other vehicles."Police said the barricade remained attached to the bonnet throughout the chase till angry motorists and bikers got Nishank to stop. They assaulted him after breaking a window and pulling him out of it. By then, police who were hot on his tail arrived and rescued him and the girlfriend from the mob.The investigation has revealed that Nishank, while studying at a catering college, had been arrested for attempt to murder in 2009 after crashing his car into a traffic constable in Santacruz on the way to a birthday celebration. The traffic constable was in a coma for some time. Nishank's father is a senior RBI official.