Ex-Intel India head Saini killed after being knocked down by speeding cab

Former Intel India country head Avtar Saini was killed after a speeding cab hit him while he was cycling in Navi Mumbai township of Maharashtra, police said on Thursday.

The accident took place at around 5.50 am on Wednesday, when Saini (68) was riding a bicycle along with fellow cyclists on the Palm Beach Road in Nerul area, an official said.

The speeding cab hit Saini's bicycle from behind and the driver then tried to escape from the spot, with the bicycle's frame wedged under the front wheels of the cab, he said.

Saini received injuries and the fellow cyclists rushed him to a hospital where he was declared dead on arrival, the official said.

Saini, a resident of suburban Chembur, was credited with working on the Intel 386 and 486 microprocessors. He also went on to lead the design of the company's Pentium processor.

The police have registered an FIR against the cab driver under various Indian Penal Code sections, including 279 (rash driving), 337 (causing hurt by doing an act rashly or negligently so as to endanger human life) and 304-A (causing death of any person by doing any rash or negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide), and provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act.

The accused has not yet been arrested, an official from the NRI police station said.