A Mumbai Special Branch police constable has been charged with attempted murder, after allegedly trying to run over a local businessman with his car, officials said. He has been on the run since the April 21 incident.
In shocking CCTV footage that has since gone viral, Ramesh Awate appears to be trying to harm his former friend after an alleged altercation over money.
Mumbai Mirror reported that Atul Pethe, 31, filed a police complaint a few days before the incident stating that Awate had become extremely hostile toward him, but was advised to take him to civil court. When Pethe later tried to record his verbal abuse, Awate allegedly got into his Innova and drove it straight toward him in Pachpakdi in Thane.
Pethe clung to the hood of the vehicle for some distance, the paper reported, adding that people nearby then intervened to save him and Awate fled the scene.
Awate had borrowed Rs3 lakh (US$4,700) from Pethe’s mother, the paper said, but despite regular reminders, he had failed to pay it back and became enraged every time he was asked for it.
Awate once worked as a driver for Vijay Salaskar, a distinguished police inspector who was killed while fighting militants during the November 2008 Mumbai terror attacks.