Actor Shabana Azmi suffered several injuries after her car met with an accident on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway on Saturday afternoon.
According to the Khalapur police, the incident occurred around 4 p.m. when Ms. Azmi was heading to Khandala, just before the toll plaza in Khalapur, Raigad. The police said her husband, writer and poet Javed Akhtar, was in another car with three others, while Ms. Azmi was in an SUV driven by her chauffeur.
“The driver tried to overtake a truck in front from the wrong side, using the lane on the far left next to the shoulder, and ended up ramming into the truck,” Inspector Vishwajeet Kaigade of Khalapur police station said.
Assistant Police Inspector Subhash Pujari said while the driver did not sustain any injuries due to the car’s airbag, Ms. Azmi sustained several injuries.
“Mr. Akhtar, who was following close behind, immediately stopped his car and called for help, and Ms. Azmi was rushed to the MGM Hospital in Kamothe,” police said.
Doctors at the MGM Hospital said Ms. Azmi had suffered whiplash injuries due to the collision. Later in the evening she was shifted to the Kokilaben Ambani Hospital in Andheri. where she is currently in the ICU.
The Khalapur police, meanwhile, have detained the driver, identified as Amalesh Kumar, and the truck driver for inquiries. Superintendent of Police Anil Paraskar, Raigad said that prima facie inquiries indicate that the driver was at fault and that action will be taken accordingly.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday tweeted, “The news of @AzmiShabana Ji’s injury in an accident is distressing. I pray for her quick recovery.”
