Crude cops ‘drive’ man to try suicide

Officers of the Vakola police found themselves in a fix when a 35-year-old Andheri resident in his suicide note alleged harassment from them.

While Ravindrakumar Dwivedi’s suicide note claimed being threatened to either hand over an accused or face arrest for not cooperating, the Vakola police claimed the suicide bid was planned by Dwivedi to avoid questioning.

Dwivedi, who along with wife Ruchi, three-year-old daughter and eight-month-old son has been living on rent in Blue Arch society in the Four Bungalows area for six months, runs a security firm in the area.

“On Tuesday afternoon, Dwivedi drank a soft drink laced with poison near the sea shore at Seven Bungalows. As he began to feel uneasy, he informed one of his friends, Deepak Kamble, who rushed to the spot and got him admitted to Cooper Hospital ICU,” said a police officer. The Versova police officials visited the ICU to record his statement, and later registered a case against him under section 309 of the IPC for the suicide attempt.

Ruchi confirmed that in the past few days, four persons, namely Tariq, Nafees Ahmed and one more person claiming to be with the local media, had approached Dwivedi, who, she said, is associated with a political party. While alleging that the four were into extortion activities and harboured mala-fide intentions, Ruchi said, “The Vakola police had arrested Ahmed and were on the lookout for Tariq. After finding out that the trio were in touch with my husband, the Vakola senior inspector and a sub-inspector began calling him, thus driving him to the edge. On Tuesday, he quietly left home and later we heard about his suicide bid.”

Senior inspector Sharad Borse of the Versova police said, “Though the suicide note mentions being harassed by police officers, it does not reveal their names.”

Stating that Dwivedi was indeed an accused in a case registered with them, inspector Bharat Kumbhar of the Vakola police said, “The trio were extorting money from a Chinese stall owner. From Ahmed we had recovered a press ID-card, which he claimed Dwivedi had prepared and given to him. We have recorded statements of the printing press staff from whom Dwivedi got the card printed.”