Monday March 22, 2010, Mumbai
3:00 pm: Satish Sawant, an insurance agent, collected his brand new Nano from a showroom in Prabhadevi, and headed home, dreaming of showing off his first car to his family at LIC Colony, Mulund (W).
3:45 pm: The car burst into flames at Eastern Express Highway. Sawant jumped to safety.
Sawant had spent Rs 2.4 lakh on the silver Nano (MH03 AW 913), which he had got fitted with an A/C and a power steering.
As Sawant cannot drive, the Concorde Motors showroom provided him with a driver to take him home safely.
There was not much afternoon traffic on the Eastern Express Highway, it being a Sunday afternoon. Sawant managed to cross Bhandup in less than 40 minutes. Around 3:45 pm, he reached Navghar Signal on the Eastern Express Highway. Suddenly, a motorcycle overtook him, signalling him to look behind.
As he turned to see what the biker was pointing at, he was alarmed to see the rear of the car in flames.
Sawant and the driver leapt out of the burning car. In no time, the car was engulfed in flames. Even a tree on the side of the highway was singed.
A shaken Sawant said, "I have no idea what happened. A motorcycle rider overtook me and told me that the vehicle was on fire. The engine was behind me and I did not realise that the car was on fire," said Sawant.
A fire tender rushed to the scene and doused the fire. The Navghar police (Mulund E) have registered a case yesterday evening.
