Ra.One animator Charu Khandal who is battling for her life in a Mumbai hospital after meeting with a horrific accident on Sunday, will be operated upon today. The surgery will be done to remove the blockage in neck. This is the first in a set of surgeries doctors will have to carry out. Earlier doctors were unable to operate on Ms Khandal since her spine was swollen.

28-year-old Khandal, who works as an animator in a production house, suffered serious injuries to her spine after the auto rickshaw she was traveling in was hit by a speeding Honda City on the wee hours of Sunday. She was returning home after having dinner at Juhu with her sister Ritu Khandal, and friend Vikrant Goel, when the mishap occurred at an intersection in Oshiwara. Ms Khandal's sister escaped with minor injuries. Mr Goel, who was also injured, is under observation at the hospital.

Meanwhile, the police have booked the driver of the car Manoj Kumar Gautam, a Lokhandwala resident, for rash driving and driving in a drunken state under Section 304A and 304-II of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). But the Holiday Court granted him bail on Sunday. Angered over Mr Gautam's bail, family members and friends of Ms Khandal have begun a campaign on Facebook. Ms Khandal was due to be engaged next month. Her sister is a sales manager in a four-star hotel while Mr Goel is a manager in a five-star hotel in the city.