Man sentenced to life for killing flight purser in Mumbai

Four years after a neighbour killed an Air India (AI) flight purser on a trivial issue, justice has finally been delivered by the Thane sessions court on Tuesday. The accused, Praveen Bhartiya, 50, has been sentenced to life imprisonment.  

“We are happy that justice has been finally delivered. The wheels of justice moved a little faster in this case,” said a senior flight purser and a colleague of the victim, Sanjeev Pansare, 50. 

On May 16, 2006, Pansare, a resident of a Bramhand Phase 4 building off Ghod Bunder Road in Thane (W), was stabbed to death by Bhartiya. 

Bhartiya was apparently disturbed by the renovation work in Pansare’s sixth-floor flat. “Pansare had kept bags of plaster of Paris on the terrace. Bhartiya did not like  this,” said a resident of the building. “On that fateful day, when Pansare had gone out to buy tiles, Bhartiya yelled at the carpenters who were at work.”

Bhartiya had asked them to remove the bags as plaster of Paris dust often settled in his house on the seventh floor.

“When Pansare came back at 5.30pm, a carpenter told him about Bhartiya’s behaviour. Both then went to Bhartiya’s flat. Bhartiya’s wife opened the door and started arguing with Pansare asking him to remove the bags,” he added.

However, when Pansare started going down the staircase, Bhartiya came out with a knife and stabbed him. Pansare was rushed to Thane civil hospital where he was declared dead on admission.