Kin of man who lost his life in Kandivli, while trying to protect his fiance from harassment, accuse cops of shielding culprits as the accused ambulance driver and owner were booked for culpable homicide
The spot in the vicinity of the hospital in Kandivli where the victim was knocked down on Sunday night
All he tried to do was protect his fiancée from an eve-teaser, but he ended up losing his life to the brute and his friends. The Charkop police have arrested five people, including the owner and driver of an ambulance, for allegedly killing a 30-year-old, after he tried to reason with the driver to not flirt with his fiancée or pass lewd comments at her. The discussion turned violent after the accused, ignoring his appeal, brutally beat him up, and later, ran him over.
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Deceased Neetesh Patel
Sunday night saw a brutal attack enfold in the vicinity of Oscar Hospital on Kandivli’s Old Link Road. The owner and driver of an ambulance and their three friends let themselves loose on a 30-year-old youth from the suburb, who had come to talk to them to stop harassing his fiancée.
Ambulance owner and accused Pankaj Bhaiyaraj Sedane
The arrested have been identified as Pankaj Bhaiyaraj Sedane (34), the owner, Sachin Ashok Modak (23), the driver, Shahabuddin Sarfuddin Khan alias Sunni (25), Rambhavan Shriraam Yadav (28), and Dastagir alias Mehboob Nasim Sheikh (24). The deceased is Kandivli resident Neetesh Patel.
Ambulance driver Sachin Modak keeps trying to flirt with the Neetesh Patel’s fiancée, a nurse in Oscar Hospital on Kandivli’s Old Link Road, constantly passing lewd comments whenever she passes by.
The language of violence
The police said Patel’s fiancée is a nurse in the hospital, and he used to visit often to meet her. She had complained to him about Modak flirting with her and passing inappropriate comments whenever she would pass by him.
Fed up with Modak’s advances, she complains to Patel about the regular harassment.
On Sunday night, Patel along with his friend Kailash Angaar went to the hospital to talk to Modak. The two tried to reason with him, telling him to stop troubling her, but Modak punched Patel and immediately called the others, all of whom started raining blows on the two, while also lashing them with belts.
Patel and his friend Kailash Angaar go to the hospital to talk to Modak and ask him to stop troubling her.
The two somehow managed to get on their bike and tried to flee from the spot. Modak and the others, however, got into a car and followed them the short distance they had managed to cover, knocking the two-wheeler down. The impact was such that both were flung off the bike. While Angaar managed to flee in spite of his injuries, Patel, who sustained grievous head injuries, lay there in a pool of blood. The accused drove off immediately.
Modak, however, refuses to listen to Patel and punches him. He then calls four of his friends, all of whom start beating and belting the two youths.
A battle lost
A few locals took Patel to Oscar Hospital, where authorities informed the police and his family members that he was in a coma.
The police initially registered an accident case against an unidentified vehicle driver, but later, after Angaar narrated the incident to them the next day, they registered a second FIR, putting the charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
Patel succumbed to his injuries on Monday, and the police arrested the five.
The two try to flee on their bike, but the 5 follow them in a car and ram into them.
Section matters
Patel’s family members have cried foul that the police have not added IPC section 302 (murder) against the accused even after his death. "The police are trying to protect the ambulance owner, because he has provided the vehicle to them for any accident in the area at a nominal cost a number of times in the past," said a friend of Patel, adding, "The men brutally beat him up, and later, ran him over; all of it was intentional. And now, he is no more. So, how can the police file an FIR under IPC section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder)? We want all of them booked under section 302."
Locals take Patel to Oscar Hospital, where he dies.
The Charkop police said that on the basis of the allegations they have booked the accused under sections 304, 324 (voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons or means), 342 (wrongful confinement), 141 and 143 (unlawful assembly), 147 (rioting) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.
An officer said, "We are checking the CCTV cameras installed near the spot where he was knocked down. We are conducting an investigation as per the law. If required, necessary action will be taken."
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