All that Ankush Patole, a police constable, wanted to do was to lend an ear to a seemingly distressed Michael Eagar, 32, a South African national, on Wednesday.
South African bites off cop’s left ear for ‘not being arrested’
All that Ankush Patole, a police constable with the JJ Marg police station, wanted to do was to lend an ear to a seemingly distressed Michael Eagar, alias George Anthony, 32, a South African national, on Wednesday. A few minutes later, however, he found his left ear fall to the ground - Anthony allegedly bit it so hard.
The South African has been arrested. On Thursday, the additional chief metropolitan magistrate’s court at Mazgaon remanded him in police custody till March 17.
Patole is undergoing treatment in a third-floor ward of the Sir JJ Hospital.
“The incident took place around 2pm on Wednesday,” Patole recollected. “Eagar came to the police station and met the officer on duty, sub-inspector Dilip Shinde, pleading ‘arrest me, arrest me’ in English. Shinde told him to sit down and asked him why he should be arrested. But Eagar kept repeating that he be arrested,” Patole said.
“Shinde then asked me to pacify him. I went to him and tried to enquire in Hindi why should he be arrested when there was no complaint against him. But he become violent, caught hold of my head and bit my left ear so hard that it fell to the ground,” the constable recounted.
Patole said he did not know what struck him. “I screamed for help. All the policemen at the police station rushed to us and rounded him up. I saw blood oozing from where the left ear was,” he said. “My colleagues rushed me to the Sir JJ Hospital. I now have to undergo a plastic surgery for my left ear,” Patole said.
Patole had joined the Mumbai police in 1993 and had been serving at the Sir JJ Marg police station for the past five years. He stays at BDD chawl in Worli with his wife and two children.
“The accused has been booked under section 333 of the IPC (Indian Penal Code),” Abu Beg, senior inspector of JJ Marg police station, said.
Beg said Eagar, who had landed in India two years back, had been staying alone on rent in Yogiraj Ashram slum colony at CST Road in Santacruz (East) for the past two years. When the police searched his house, they found a Xerox copy of his South African passport, which had his name as George Anthony. But in his identity card, his name was given as Michael Eagar, Beg said. No incriminating document was found, he said.
The police were trying to ascertain if he was involved in any criminal activity anywhere in the country, the senior inspector said.
k_dayanand@dnaindia.net
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