BSP Leader Sachin Bansode and Brother-in-Law Prashant Nikalje Killed in Samruddhi Expressway Accident; Four Injured

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district president Sachin Bansode and his brother-in-law Prashant Nikalje were killed in an accident on the Samruddhi Expressway at Sinnar taluka in Nashik district in the early hours of Wednesday. Four others in the car were reported to be injured.

A BSP review meeting for the recently held assembly polls had been held in Mumbai on Tuesday. Sachin Subhash Bansode (Indiranagar, Garkheda), his brother-in-law Prashant Sunil Nikalje (Sanjaynagar, Mukundwadi), and four others had traveled from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar to Mumbai. While returning from Mumbai in their car (MH20 GU 9515), a container (MH38 AC 3015) crashed into their vehicle from behind in Sinnar taluka, Nashik district. The car was crushed entirely, and Bansode and Nikalje were killed on the spot. The other passengers—Shubham Dasare (Pundliknagar), Sachin Salve (Banbatnagar), Shubham Dandge (Jawahar Colony), and Anil Manohar—sustained serious injuries. All the injured were admitted to the Sinnar sub-district rural hospital and later transferred to Nashik.

The bodies of the deceased were brought back to the city. The last rites of Bansode were performed at the Gadiya Vihar crematorium, while Nikalje’s last rites were performed at the Mukundwadi crematorium on Wednesday night. Bansode was married to Nikalje’s sister Sheetal. The death of two members of the family has cast a pall of gloom over the entire city.

The container that had caused the accident fled the scene. The police informed all toll plazas on the Samruddhi Highway. A team, led by API Ganesh Shinde of Vavi police station, along with officers Ajay Mahajan, Kiran Pawar, and Navnath Adke, went in search of the container. At the accident spot, the police recovered the number plate of the container, which helped them track it down to Sindhkhed Raja. The police have arrested the container driver.