Bollywood / Actress Shabana Azmi's driver charged with rash driving after her accident

An FIR has been registered against actor Shabana Azmi’s driver after the car they were travelling in met with an accident on Mumbai-Pune expressway yesterday afternoon, police said.

Azmi’s driver has been identified as Amlesh Yogendra Kamat. According to ANI, the complaint has been registered by Rajesh Pandurang Shinde, the truck driver as his vehicle was hit from behind by the Azmi’s car. “Due to rash driving by the car’s driver, the car hit the moving truck on Pune-Mumbai Expressway which resulted in the accident,” the FIR copy read.

“She is stable and under observation,” said Dr Santosh Shetty, Executive Director and CEO of Ambani hospital in a statement late on Saturday evening. Prime Minister Narendra Modi was among those who expressed concern about the actor after the news came.

Azmi met with an accident on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway on Saturday afternoon when the car she was in, rear-ended into a truck. Both vehicles were moving on the Pune-bound lane. Azmi and her driver sustained injuries. Azmi is currently undergoing treatment at Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital.

The accident took place near the Khalapur toll booth at 4pm, according to Maharashtra traffic police. Azmi was travelling in a Tata Safari while her husband, lyricist Javed Akhtar, was travelling in an Audi, said police.

“The Safari was being driven by Azmi’s driver, followed by the Audi. The driver tried to overtake another vehicle and crashed into the moving truck from the rear,” said inspector Vishwajeet Kaingade, Khalapur police station.

Within 15 minutes of the accident, the police team reached the spot, but first responders had already taken Azmi to MGM Hospital in Kamothe. Azmi, who was sitting in the passenger seat behind her driver Kamlesh Kamath, sustained injuries to her face. She was later declared out of danger and shifted to Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital in Andheri.

Both the truck driver and Kamath were at the site when the police arrived. The police said on Saturday they are in the process of registering a case under sections 279 (rash and negligent driving) and 337 (causing hurt by negligence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against Kamath.

Piyush Tewari, founder of SaveLife Foundation, which works towards road safety, said rear-ending is the most common type of accident on the expressway. “It is imperative that drivers do not overtake in high speed from the left as that increases the possibility of a serious crash significantly. In 2019, nearly 50% of fatal crashes on the expressway were rear-ending collisions,” he said.

Neither Akhtar nor Azmi’s manager could be reached for comment.