Iron tool flies off truck, kills hotelier on walk in Mumbai's Bandra (W)

MUMBAI: A hotelier, Vijay Asrani, was killed by an anvil that struck him on the head after it was flung off a truck that met with an accident near the businessman’s home on Turner Road in Bandra (West) in the wee hours of Sunday.
A police officer said the truck was carrying iron material to the coastal road work site in Bandra.
Taken by a night police patrol to the nearby Bhabha Hospital, the 40-year-old Asrani was declared dead before admission.
The unmarried Asrani’s family, comprising his aged parents, learnt about his death from the police.
Asrani’s friends reached the hospital after learning about the accident.
The truck driver, Manjoor Alam Ansari (49), was caught by a patrolling team after locals who witnessed the incident called for assistance. The police said Ansari was speeding and was taken to the Bandra police station, where he was arrested. Produced before the Bandra court later on Sunday, the driver was remanded in police custody.
The police said they were not yet clear where Asrani was coming from or going, but they had learnt from his friends that it was routine for the hotelier to walk about in the small hours after his business establishment closed for the day.
“Asrani was walking by the roadside when the heavy cast iron fell on him. Local witnesses promptly informed the police control room, and the night police patrolling team quickly arrived at the location. The truck driver is in police custody and has been booked under the Indian Penal Code sections 279 (rash driving) and 304 (A) (causing death due to negligence),” senior inspector Sanjay Marathe said.
A police officer said the blood samples of Ansari, the truck driver who they said was from Uttar Pradesh, had been sent for analysis to determine whether he was driving under the influence of alcohol.
Asrani’s friends described him as a happy-go-lucky person. Asrani’s brother-in-law Shoven Shah said that it was not known whether the hotelier was returning home after a walk or heading out for a walk.
“We received a call from the police in the wee hours informing us that Vijay Asrani had met with an accident. We were asked to reach Bhabha Hospital. When we reached the hospital, we were informed that he had lost his life while he walking on Turner Road. He was hit by a heavy item that fell on his head after dislodging from a large vehicle after it hit a tree, killing him instantly,” Shah said, adding that Asrani’s parents were devastated.