MUMBAI: Twenty-one months after a Navy speed boat crashed into a passenger ferry near Butcher Island off the Mumbai coast, resulting in 15 deaths, the Colaba police have filed a charge-sheet against MARCOS special officer Karamveer Bahadur Singh Yadav, who was piloting the speed boat.
The charge sheet was filed after police in the Esplanade court received a report from the Original Equipment Manufacture (OEM) stating that the naval craft was found to be technically sound and the incident was likely caused by human error, negligence and speeding. “We attempted to file the charge-sheet last month but the court did not accept it as there were some queries. The court is yet to take cognisance of the charge-sheet, he added. What followed was a massive rescue operation, which included vessels with the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Authority (JNPA), Navy, Coast Guard, Marine Police and even a few private vessels. Two agencies investigated the crash – the Indian Navy and the Colaba police, under whose jurisdiction the incident occurred. The police investigation studied whether the boat’s engine had malfunctioned or whether pilot error had led to the accident. “Our charge-sheet against special officer Yadav is based on the OEM report.
The accident, one of the deadliest accidents in the Mumbai harbour, took place on December 18, 2024, as the passenger ferry, the Neel Kamal, sailed from the Gateway of India to Elephanta Island, with around 100 passengers on board. The Colaba police registered a first information report (FIR) against the speed boat pilot under sections 106 (1) (causing death by negligence), 125(a) (reckless or negligent acts endangering personal safety or life of others), 282 (rash or negligent navigation of a vessel), and 324 (mischief) of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.
We have submitted additional documents and have resolved those queries,” said an officer with the Colaba police station. Our investigation concluded that negligence on his part led to the accident,” said the police officer.
