3 cops held in custodial death case

GOREGAON LYNCHING

 

Mateen Hafeez TNN

Mumbai: The crime branch arrested three policemen attached to the Vanrai police station on Tuesday in the case of custodial death of a 20-year-old suspected thief.

 

    The arrested men were head constable Chandrakant Kambale, police naik Kiran Pingale and constable Umesh Gosavi.
    

The deceased, Manoj Salve, a Kurla resident, and his accomplice Prakash Chavan (30) were caught by the public at a fire safety exhibition on the Nesco ground in Goregaon (E) on October 26, said the police.   Crime branch insiders said the two suspected thieves were beaten by the people present and the three policemen also joined the public in the thrashing. 

    After the suspects were taken to the Vanrai police station, their questioning was commenced, during which Salve fell unconscious. Salve was taken to Cooper Hospital in Juhu, where doctors declared him dead at the time of arrival.  When Salve’s family heard about his detention and subsequent death, they demonstrated at the police station. Calling it a murder, they demanded the arrest of the policemen responsible. 

    At the time, the police registered an accidental death case, but the post-mortem report stated that Salve died of external injuries.   The crime branch, which had begun an investigation, submitted its report and stated that the preliminary inquiry had found three policemen guilty. 

    The inquiry team also examined the CCTV footage of the exhibition centre and saw people beating the suspects. The three policemen did not rush the two suspects to hospital, instead taking them to their police station.   Based on the report, the three policemen were arrested on Tuesday night. The accused were produced before a court and remanded in police custody till Monday. 

 

The Times of India, December 26, 2013