Overview
- A nine-year-old boy identified as Rupesh Dhotre was crushed under a BEST bus on Appa Pada Road in Malad East after the vehicle allegedly hit or overtook the bicycle he was on, causing him to fall under the rear wheel.
- Bystanders rushed Rupesh to Shatabdi Hospital in Kandivali West where doctors declared him dead on arrival.
- Kurar police have seized the bus and arrested the driver, named in reports as Dilip Gangad (also reported as Dilip Bangar), and registered an FIR under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita for negligent driving causing death.
- Family and eyewitness accounts say Rupesh was riding as a pillion with his 14-year-old cousin while returning from their grandmother’s house and that his father witnessed the crash, details investigators are recording as they review CCTV and vehicle evidence.
- The case follows two other fatal BEST-related accidents in May and has prompted residents and officials to press for clearer answers on driver conduct, road congestion on narrow suburban stretches, and what safety measures BEST will adopt next.