Did Mukesh Ambani’s son do a Salman Khan?

Bollywood Superstar Salman Khan and Mukesh’s son Akash Ambani. A Mumbai Court sentenced Bollywood superstar Salman Khan to five years in jail in the 2002 hit-and-run case after 13-years of judicial proceeding.

Before the judgement was pronounced, Salman’s driver Ashok Singh in a dramatic appearance claimed he was the one behind the wheel and not Salman Khan when the accident happened, but the judge rejected the statement. The court held Salman guilty of all charges.

Ironically, a rather similar case of a hit-and-run  in 2013 which involved the scion of India’s richest person Mukesh Ambani, took place but was speedily mopped under the carpet. Mukesh ambani’s son Akash was reported to be driving a Rs. 4.5 crore worth Aston Martin Rapide sports car and said to have lost control of the sports car which rammed into an Audi luxury car and then hit a Hyundai Elantra. The eyewitnesses said that a rather bulky driver fled the incident spot.

On that night police took 12 hours to record the statements of the eyewitnesses and at 5.30am an FIR was filed.

On the next day, in the very same way as Ashok did in the case of Salman Khan, Akash’s chauffeur Bansilal Joshi claimed that he was behind the wheel when the accident occurred.

It was late at night at Peddar Road in South Bombay suburb on December 8, 2013. The Aston Martin Rapide car was followed by two security vehicles and traveling through the aforementioned stretch. Suddenly, the driver of the sports car lost control ramming into an Audi which then crossed the road divider then hit a parked Hyundai Elantra.The Hyundai Elantra was owned by Vikram Mishra, a resident of Thane who works at a pharmaceutical firm and Foram Ruparel was the owner of the Audi. After the accident, the driver fled the spot after being escorted by his security detail following him in another car.

Police inspecting the wrecked Aston Martin Rapide car on that night. On the following day,  Foram Ruparel, driver of the Audi, recorded her statement saying that the man at the wheel of the Aston Martin Rapide was a ‘young man’, whose description bears a strong resemblance with Akash Ambani.

But on the next day, a long-time Ambani employee Bansilal Joshi, 55, weighting about 100 kg presented himself at the police incident and claimed that he was driving the car. He also said that he had taken out the Rs 4.5 crore out for “routine maintenance”.

No arrests had been made even after nine days of that incident, although eyewitnesses of the horrific road mishap claim that a young man was seen on the driver’s seat, who, they add, later fled in one of the two tailing SUVs. The car was last seen at a bash organised by Mukesh Ambani in honour of cricket legend Sachin Tendulkar, at which Akash Ambani was also present.

A Reliance spokesperson had said that the injuries sustained were minor and that the driver was not fleeing the scene but that the impact of the accident was so intense that the car was thrust ahead. The police didn’t arrest Joshi as they weren’t sure if he was indeed the culprit and the CCTV footage at the Cadbury junction also was inconclusive as it did not show the faces of the drivers.

According to media reports Joshi has told the police that he usually chauffeurs Akash, the son of Reliance chairman Mukesh Ambani. He allegedly said that Akash panicked after the accident and jumped into an escort car. Unsubstantiated reports on social media immediately after the Peddar Road incident had hinted at two people losing their lives in the Aston Martin hit-and-run case, but these links and posts were either removed from the websites or led to dead links soon after the news spread, albeit in trickles, giving rise to speculation that Reliance had used its might to suppress any news related to the accident. But no investigations and follow-up was ever made on the incident. And the incident slowly faded away from public memory.

Over the weekend, Ms Ruparel later identified Bansilal Joshi, 55, as the man who was driving the Rs 4.5 crore worth Ashton Martin Rapide when the accident happened. A Reliance spokesperson had also confirmed that the Aston Martin was a ‘family car’ and that Joshi was driving it at the time of the accident, while speaking to Forbes.

Salman Khan’s Land Cruiser that rammed into a bakery in Bandra, killing one person and injuring four. On December 26, 2013, a Mumbai-based newspaper published that owners of two cars smashed by a speeding Aston Martin Rapide owned by industrialist Mukesh Ambani’s Reliance Group have got replacement as compensation. Owners have also informed the police that they are “not interested in pursuing the case any further.” While Ruparel got an identical Audi A6, Mishra received an upgrade in the form of Skoda Superb.

But according to NDTV report, Ruparel told the news channel that she had not been contacted by Reliance Group for any compensation, and the new Audi car was organized through her insurance company. And according to the Economic Times, the insurance companies involved have denied settling either of the claims and said that replacing a damaged car with an upgraded model is out of the question.

Here are the unsolved mysteries in the case:

Police didn’t arrest Bansilal Joshi who claimed that he was behind the wheel because they aren’t sure if Bansilal Joshi was indeed the driver.

Mystery One: Would a chauffeur be followed by two security cars and if police didn’t believe he was the driver then who was driving the car that night?

On that night, the driver lost control and hit Ruparel’s Audi, which then flew over the divider on the road and hit a luxury bus and then collided with  Mishra’s Hyundai.

Mystery Two: Why the chauffeur was not fined even if he had driven the car in that speed.

Reliance didn’t give compensation for the cars, and insurance company also didn’t replace for the damage.

Mystery Three: Who was the mystery person who gave brand new cars as gifts on the occasion of Christmas.