Three friends of the Vada Pav seller from Chembur who was allegedly beaten to death by cops are too scared to testify against the police; victim's family wants them to lodge a complaint

Two days after Sachin Khopkar, a Vada Pav seller from Chembur, was allegedly beaten to death by police constables, his friends who witnessed the incident find themselves in a dilemma. Although they are angry at the police brutality, they are afraid of police retribution. Meanwhile, Khopkar's family is livid that the boys didn't inform them of his death till the next morning, and expect them to lodge a police complaint to bring the culprits to book.

Sayyed Sadam (25), Avinash Waghsawre (21) and Swapnil Peter (22) were standing with Khopkar under their MHADA colony building at RCF at 12.30 am on Friday, when two beat constables on the night round approached them, asking them to clear the area. They allegedly began slapping the boys. The three left immediately. Khopkar, who stayed back, was beaten unconscious. Sadam, who hid close by, saw a police van take away Khopkar's lifeless body at 1.30 am.