Twitter
Advertisement

Koregaon Park society watchman found dead

Relative says he was beaten up, dumped at Ghorpadi

Latest News
article-main
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

Mystery surrounds the death of a watchman working for a Koregaon Park housing society. A doctor had been accused of assaulting him a few hours before he was found dead. The doctor has been reportedly missing ever since the incident took place.
Sarjerao Ganpat Sathe (47), a resident of Vikasnagar in Ghorpadigaon, disappeared on the evening of July 27 and was found dead the following morning. Sathe had been working for the society for the past couple of years.

On July 27 at around 7.45am, Dr Abhijiit Khanvilkar, who runs a medical firm at Winter Berry Purple Society in Koregaon Park’s lane number 5, got into an argument with watchman Sathe over not opening the gate immediately for his car. Sathe’s wife Usha told the police that Khanvilkar assaulted the watchman with a stick, and pushed him on the cement platform in the watchman’s cabin.

Sub inspector Sheetal Jadhav said that Sathe worked for the day with a bandage on his right hand even after he was beaten up.
“According to another watchman, Sathe had asked him to come early, but he didn’t go. Sathe then went to his place at around 8 pm and left after sometime,” she said, adding that the following morning, Sathe was found in injured condition near RK medical store in Ghorpadi.

Inspector (Crime) Rajendra Mulik said that on Usha’s statement, they had booked Khanvilkar for voluntarily causing hurt. Later on doctor’s report of assault marks on his body and head, they changed the charges to voluntarily causing grievous hurt under Indian Penal Code.

Real estate consultant Anup Nayar, who was an eye-witness to the fight, said an ambulance of Khanvilkar’s firm was to rush somewhere and the driver asked another watchman to open the gate.

“The watchman told him to wait for sometime. When Khanvilkar enquired and found that the ambulance could not leave as the watchman did not open the gate immediately, he came there and pushed Sathe so hard that he fell and his head banged against a cement platform in his cabin,” he narrated.

Society secretary Rohit Dayal said when Khanvilkar brought Sathe to me to complain about him, Sathe was offered first aid and some get his injuries treated, but Sathe refused.

According to Dayal, Sathe complained of uneasiness and left at around 5 pm, before his shift got over. “We didn’t have any watchman after that as residents felt threatened by outsiders. We hired another security agency,” Dayal said.

Meanwhile, Sachin Kasbe, a relative of Sathe, had another version of the story. He accused Khanvilkar of dumping a grievously injured Sathe at Ghorpadi near the debris and spraying chemicals over him.

“We rushed him to a private hospital and lodged a complaint with Ghorpadi police chowky, but were asked to approach the Koregaon Park police. We were made to run from pillar to post after four days our complaint was taken. On doctor’s advice we shifted Sathe to another hospital spent Rs3 lakh and he died. His wallet is missing. Police are going soft on Khanvilkar. They should register an attempt to murder case and arrested Khanvilkar but registered assault instead,” Kasbe Sathe said.

On Monday, at Inlaks and Budharni Hospital, where Sathe died, his relatives created a ruckus for several hours not allowing police to take the dead body for autopsy.

On public pressure, the police has booked Khanvilkar for murder under relevant sections of IPC. PI Rajendra Mulik said, “We can’t help but book Khavilkar for murder, as the statement given by Sathe’s relative and eye-witness say Khanvilkar thrashed him with stick and there are marks on Sathe’s back, stomach and neck. Once Khanvilkar gets arrested, the picture will be clear.”

After over a week, accused still missing

More than a week has passed after the watchman was beaten up, but police have been still unable to trace the accused doctor. A relative of Khanvilkar says, “The incident is unfortunate, but Khanvilkar is innocent.”

Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement