Pune: A woman succumbed to grievous head injury after an autorickshaw driven by a drunk driver hit her near Shewalewadi vegetable market in Hadapsar around 9pm on Sunday. Police identified the deceased as Sarika Rajendra Chavan (30), a vegetable trader from Loni Kalbhor. She was crossing the road when the autorickshaw hit her because its driver failed to spot her in time.
The police registered an FIR around 3am on Monday. The autorickshaw driver, Anand Dodke (40), stopped his three-wheeler and took the seriously injured woman to a nearby hospital. The doctors advised him to take the victim to the Sassoon General Hospital and informed the police about the incident.
The medical authorities at the Sassoon hospital declared Chavan dead, the police said. The Sassoon hospital, in its advance post-mortem report, certified that the victim died due to head injury. "We then referred Dodke to a blood alcohol test.
A preliminary certificate issued by the hospital confirmed that he was driving the vehicle in an inebriated condition," sub-inspector Ashok Gandale, in charge of the Manjari police chowky under the Hadapsar police, said. Gandale said, "Dodke's blood sample has been sent to the forensic science laboratory for further analysis. We have arrested him on charges of rash and negligent driving causing death, and under the provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act related to drunk driving.
" Dodke told the police during his questioning that he consumed liquor in Hadapsar and was on his way back home to Loni Kalbhor when the accident occurred. The police impounded the autorickshaw for an inspection by the regional transport office (RTO) authorities. The police earlier produced Dodke before a court in Wanowrie.
He was remanded in magisterial custody. He was later sent to the Yerawada central jail..
