Mumbai acid attack: Preeti Rathi's neighbour held for flinging acid at her

Mumbai Crime Branch have made an arrest in the Preeti Rathi acid attack case 45 days after the case was transferred to them They arrested Ankur Narayanlal Panwar 23 who was Preetirsquos neighbour in Bhakra Beas Management Board Colony in Narela Delhi According to the police Ankur was picked up from his houseAnkur Panwar was allegedly jealous of Preeti and was tired of taunts he had to listen from his mother about his own unemployment Hence he allegedly attacked her with acid PicSameer MarkandeThe incident occurred on May 2 last year when Preeti alighted from the Garib Rath Express at Bandra Terminus A man who had covered his face with a handkerchief came forward and flung acid on her faceThe Mumbai crime branch and the Government Railway Police interrogated several people including Preetirsquos college mates her colleagues at Batra Hospital where she studied nursing her neighbours and relatives However Preeti had already named the accused as one of the suspects but the police hadnrsquot interrogated himJealousy behind crimePreeti had gotten a job as a Lieutenant in Indian Navy She came to Mumbai to join in the INHS Asvini the naval hospital at Colaba ldquoAnkurrsquos mother used to visit Preetirsquos house as they are family friendsPreeti RathiAs her own son was unemployed she used to taunt him and compare him to Preetirdquo said Himanshu Roy joint commissioner of police Crime Branch This caused Ankur much anger Police investigations revealed that Ankur was a hotel management graduate from a private university in Orissa and spent a huge amount on his education Yet he was jobless and his parentsrsquo taunts got to himldquoAnkurrsquos mother came to know that the Preetirsquos salary would be around Rs 50000 She taunted him on his inability to get a job This angered him a lotrdquo said Anil Dhole assistant police inspector of Unit VII of the Mumbai Crime Branch the team that investigated the case for 45 days Hence he decided to vent his fury on PreetiAnkur stole battery acid sulphuric acid from the nearby office of Delhi Electricity Supply Undertaking ldquoHis mother had told him that Preeti was taking the Garib Rath to Mumbai on May 1 He got into the train without a ticket and was searching for the right moment to throw the acid at her As soon as Preeti got down at Bandra Terminus he tied a handkerchief to cover his face and attacked herrdquo said Prafful Bhosale assistant commissioner of police Crime BranchPolice claimed further investigations could throw more light on the exact reason behind Ankurrsquos actions Preeti died on June 1 last year When CCTV footage from Bandra Terminus was shown to Preeti she had named three people who could be her potential attackers Pawan Gahlan Ankur Panwar or Satyam VargheseThe GRP official investigating the case arrested Gahlan who was later released by the court Varghese too was interrogated but Ankur was never questioned Police only took statements of Ankurrsquos father Narayanlal who claimed his son was in Haridwar at the time and had gone there for an interview in a fivestar hotelldquoAfter we took Narayanlalrsquos statements we showed Ankurrsquos picture to Preetirsquos father Amar Singh Rathi who told us he had not seen Ankur anywhere in the train So we didnrsquot interrogate himrdquo said Devram Wadmare senior police inspector of the Railway Crime Branch Ankur had gotten a job in a fivestar hotel in Ahmedabad where a breakin occurred The hotel asked all its employees to obtain noobjection certificates from the local police station in their native areas Hence Ankur returned to DelhiWhen constable Hridaynath Mishra Subhash Mali and Nitin Palande attached with the Unit II of the Mumbai Crime Branch saw Ankur they questioned him ldquoHe told them he had gone for an interview in Haridwar during the time Preeti was attacked but when we inquired with the hotel in Haridwar they denied that such an interview had ever taken place This raised our suspicion We also found some marks on his hands which we later learnt were due to the acidrdquo added BhosaleAnkur was mostly out of Delhi for his job so the GRP didnrsquot really interrogate him This saved him for 8 months After the investigations were handed to the Mumbai crime branch a team of around 11 people was made under the guidance of ACP Bhosale The team has been working in Delhi for the last 40 days and interrogated several peopleldquoWe interrogated Preetirsquos mother her college friends her hospital friends her neighbours We also took CCTV footage from various places like Delhi station The biggest fear we had was that since eight months had passed the clues would have been done away with But we managed to solve the caserdquo said RoyWhen they came to know about the arrest Preetirsquos family said they never suspected Ankur ldquoWe never thought it would be Ankur His mother used to visit our house most of the time She also came after Preeti diedrdquo Amar Singh Rathi Preetirsquos father told MiD DAY ldquoWe donrsquot know why he was so jealous with Preeti She was just a hardworking girlrdquo he lamented Ankur has been remanded to police custody till January 23