Mumbai: Bharat Chavan, 32, whose 60-year-old mother, Kasturba Chavan, died last week in Bandra West, submitted a letter through his lawyer, Yashab Virani, to Bandra police station on August 18, demanding that appropriate sections be added to the FIR and fresh statements be recorded.
Allegation Made By Bharat Chavan
In the letter, he alleged that the Mercedes driver, Jeeva Munecha, 41, fled the scene without providing medical assistance to his mother. His lawyer stated that a copy of the letter was sent to the Commissioner of Police. Chavan’s letter claimed that on August 13, after the accident, the Mercedes driver fled without offering help, which led to his mother’s death. He alleged that the Bandra police applied only bailable sections, omitting non-bailable ones, and that the investigating officer (IO), PSI Ganesh Bharati, seemed hurried to release the accused, who, according to Chavan, had killed his mother and committed a grievous offence.
Chavan further alleged that the IO recorded his statement against his will, without waiting for his advocate. “I told the IO that I would sign the copy once my advocate arrived. However, the IO, in a hurry to help the accused, threatened me and falsely told me that the paper was required to release my mother from the hospital. Without allowing me to read it, he forcibly took my thumb impression on the FIR copy. I was not even provided a copy of the FIR on the same day,” the letter claimed.
The letter also alleged that crucial CCTV footage and eyewitness accounts were not collected from the scene and were not disclosed to the victim’s family, potentially suppressing the case’s facts. Chavan claimed that even the panch witnesses were manipulated. He added that his mother’s hands were completely crushed, yet the IO refused to provide information about the post-mortem, only instructing him to collect the body from Cooper Hospital. Chavan accused the IO of colluding with the accused. Chavan demanded that the investigation be transferred to a fair officer.
Speaking to FPJ, he said, “I lost my mother, but the police only threatened us, which put us in jail. We saw the accused only once, and later he was out on bail.” On August 13, Kasturba was allegedly killed after being run over by Munecha’s Mercedes near Chimbai Beat Chowki while drinking tea. Munecha, employed by businessman Upendra Singh, rushed her to Bhabha Hospital, where she was declared dead. The FPJ attempted to contact the Senior police inspector and the IO, but received no response.
