MUMBAI: A Worli hotelier, arrested for culpable homicide in a drunk driving case last Nov, has fraudulently collected Rs 9 lakh insurance by claiming that his vehicle had been stolen in 2009, said Andheri police. The deception was uncovered when police arrested Sabyasachi Nishank (40) on Nov 29, 2024, and found that the car’s registration belonged to a Pune-based friend.
Probe revealed that Nishank’s SUV was never stolen in Dec 2009; he had altered the registration plate to deceive the insurance company after he was booked in another rash driving and an attempt to murder case for knocking down a traffic constable in Santacruz. Police found that he filed a false vehicle theft report in Pune and told his father, a retired RBI senior manager, that he had bought a similar vehicle after paying Rs 22 lakh cash.

As the vehicle theft FIR was registered at Deccan police station in Pune, Andheri police have informed their counterparts there about the insurance fraud. “The vehicle theft FIR has now been reclassified as a cheating case,” said assistant commissioner of police (Andheri division) Shashikant Bhosale.
A drunk Nishank allegedly tried to run over police personnel at a nakabandi, crashed his SUV into a security barricade, two police vehicles, a BMW, an auto and three bikes, and led police on a dramatic 30-minute chase in Andheri East in the early hours of Nov 28, 2024.
Tests at Jogeshwari trauma care centre showed Nishank’s blood alcohol content at 42.5/100, above legal limits. He was booked under BNS sections 281 (rash driving), 324 (causing damage or loss to property), and Motor Vehicles Act section 185 (drunk driving), said Bhosale. “We added BNS section 110 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) because his act almost endangered the life of the cops and others on the road,” he added.
“On Jan 25, the Bombay high court granted him conditional bail — he must display a ‘Don’t Drink and Drive’ banner at Worli Naka junction every weekend for three hours over three months,” an Andheri police officer said. Deccan police will proceed with action against Nishank after his court-ordered punishment ends.