Playback singer and anchor Aditya Narayan yesterday expressed regret over an accident in which his car hit an autorickshaw and left two persons injured.
"It was an unfortunate accident... and I feel sorry for what has happened," Aditya Narayan, son of veteran singer Udit Narayan, told the IANS news agency.
On the day of the accident, Aditya Narayan had left his home in Oshiwara, a suburb of Mumbai, at around 12:30pm to go to Andheri in his Mercedes Benz car and saw an autorickshaw approaching at high speed from the opposite direction near Lokhandwala Circle.
"I expected him to slow down at the junction, but he didn't brake and took a right turn... I swerved on the left to avoid him and hit the autorickshaw on the side, causing it to topple over twice," Narayan said.
Hearing the commotion, a large crowd gathered, but nobody offered to lend a helping hand, barring an autorickshaw driver who agreed to take the two victims to the Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani hospital barely a kilometre away.
Within minutes after the accident, Aditya Narayan ensured that the passenger, Surekha Ankush Shivekar, 32, and the autorickshaw driver Rajkumar Baburao Palekar, 64, had been admitted to the hospital and their treatment had begun.
"From the lady's mobile phone, I could call up her boss in a beauty parlour where she works and they got in touch with Shivekar's brother and they all turned up at the hospital.
"Then, I quickly rushed home to arrange funds for their treatment... I have decided to bear the full medical expenses of the injured victims, including Shivekar, who is likely to be discharged today. The autorickshaw driver's treatment is likely to continue," he said.
Meanwhile, he arranged for his driver and the badly damaged vehicle to report to the Versova police station where a complaint was lodged, and he was later sent to the BMC's RN Cooper Hospital for a blood test.
"Aditya has done what any responsible citizen would do. The family has taken care of the injured persons and is looking after their medical needs too," his lawyer Zulfikar Memon added.
Narayan said he was charged under section 337 of the Motor Vehicles Act — "no other offences" — and fined around Rs10,000, and granted bail immediately, dismissing all speculation in the matter.
He said he returned home around midnight — nearly 12 hours after the accident.
The singer added that he again visited the hospital on Tuesday evening to meet and enquire about the health of both the victims, who are now reported to be stable.
Aditya Narayan has sung several superhit Hindi numbers like 'Ishqayun Dhishqayun' and 'Tattad Tattad' from Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram-Leela (2013).