The mystery surrounding Vijay Palande’s ‘illegally seized’ red Skoda Fabia deepened on Tuesday, after Senior Inspector Deepak Phatangre of Crime Branch Unit VIII clarified that though the car had not been seized by police, it was indeed lying in their compound. Earlier, MiD DAY had reported how Palande had complained to the commissioner in a letter that Phatangre was using his car (‘Vijay Palande claims his car is being illegally used by a senior cop’, March 12, 2013).

Vijay Palande’s red Skoda Fabia is lying in a derelict state in the premises of the Crime Branch Unit VIII in Andheri; a senior cop however insisted that the car is not officially in police custody. Pic/Shadab Khan