Banastarim Mercedes crash case: Goa court cancels conditional bail of AAP leader Palekar

Panaji, Aug 26 (PTI) A Goa court on Monday cancelled the bail of Aam Aadmi Party's state unit chief Amit Palekar in the 2023 Banastarim accident case in which three persons were killed.

A senior police official said Palekar will have to surrender immediately and he will be taken into custody as per the court's order.

Three persons were killed on August 6, 2023 when a speeding Mercedes car hit multiple vehicles on Banastarim bridge. At the time, the Crime Branch had arrested Palekar for allegedly tampering with evidence and trying to produce a decoy driver to protect accused Paresh Sawardekar.

The conditional bail given to him by the additional district court was on Monday cancelled by the additional sessions court in Ponda here.

The Crime Branch last week moved an application seeking cancellation of Palekar's bail claiming he was given permission by court to travel to France but he visited some other countries as well, thus violating bail conditions.

During the hearing on Friday, Palekar's lawyer said the court had given permission to go abroad and had not restricted the travel to France.

On Monday, the court allowed the Crime Branch's application and cancelled the conditional bail given to Palekar.

The accident took place on Ponda-Panaji highway, some 15 kilometres from the state capital at 7:30pm on August 6. The luxury car hit three cars, a motorcycle and a scooter.

Accused Sawardekar, who owns a chain of supermarkets, was arrested for culpable homicide not amounting to murder, rash driving, drunk driving and other offences. PTI RPS BNM