‘Sahay made no dying declaration’

Home minister R.R. Patil on Friday said that apart from the statement that now deceased senior IPS officer R.K. Sahay gave to a doctor, the police had no dying declaration from him. The home minister also assured that the-re would be a detailed probe in the matter over allegations of the late officer being harassed by his seniors that allegedly forced him to take the drastic step of immolating himself. Mr Sahay died due to severe burn injuries at a city hospital on Thursday morning. On September 17, he had allegedly set himself afire at his residence and was battling for life since. He was admitted to Bombay Hospital and had suffered 50 per cent burns. “Mr Sahay had given a statement to the doctor who was treating him. The doctor has written the statement, but that cannot be used as his dying declaration, as it was not recorded in front of a magistrate,” the home minister said. He, however, did not elaborate on the details of the statement given by the senior IPS officer. According to the sources, his wife told the police that his (Sahay) clothes caug-ht fire during a Ganp-ati arti at their house on Malabar Hill. “His health (Sahay) was improving and hence, he was taken off the ventilator on Wednesday only. But, after the ventilator was removed, he started showing respiratory problems. One cannot imagine taking a dying declaration from a person whose health was improving,” the home minister clarified. Mr Patil admitted that the matter is serious and needed a detailed probe to ascertain the actual cause of the incident. Mr Sahay has accused the Maharashtra Sta-te Police Housing Cor-poration (MSPHC) of favouring a construction firm by allotting them all the mass housing projects.