Thane builder Suraj Parmar’s suicide case reopened

The Thane police have reopened the case of builder Suraj Parmar’s death by suicide in 2015. The demand of the opposition parties to reopen the probe had been intensifying ever since the new state government took over last year.

Sources in the police said they will start recording the statements of people whose names were mentioned by Parmar in his 15-page suicide note and probe if there were any errors in the previous investigation. The probe will be led by an officer of the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police.

Parmar had named corporators in suicide note

Parmar, a well-known builder, shot himself on Oct 7, 2015, at under-construction premises in Thane. The suicide note, found from his car, had a few barely visible names of corporators. The police had sent the note to the forensic lab to unravel the mystery and names of four corporators – Hanmant Jagdale, Najeeb Mulla, Vikrant Chavan, Sudhakar Chavan (who passed away last year) – were deciphered.

Five days after his death, a case was registered against some Thane Municipal Corporation (TMC) officials, corporators and political leaders at the Kasarvadvali police station. Thousands of builders took out a rally in Thane to take strict action against culprits.

After the court rejected the pre-arrest bail application of all the four suspects, they surrendered before the police and were granted bail. Later, Parmar’s diary was seized during the Income Tax department’s action. It was said to contain codewords. In Feb 2016, the Thane police filed a 3,000-page charge sheet against the four in the court.

Opposition had demanded the probe

For the past few months, the Shiv Sena led by Uddhav Thackeray has been demanding an inquiry by a special investigation team. Last month, MP Arvind Sawant also demanded an investigation based on Parmar’s dairy.

Assistant Commissioner of Police (crime prevention) Indrajeet Karle said, “I can only say that the investigation has been initiated.” Thane Commissioner of Police Jai Jit Singh and Joint CP Dattatrey Karale were unavailable for comments.