Deputy commissioner of police, zone IX, Satya Narayan is looking into the sequence of events that led to a mishap where an iron net collapsed on a head constable during a BMC demolition drive in Khar market on Saturday morning in Khar (west) leaving him in an extremely critical condition. The 54-year-old head constable Ajitkumar Shantaram Khavale continues to be on ventilator in Lilavati Hospital.
The correspondent approached additional commissioner, west region, Cherring Dorje who asked to contact DCP Satya Narayan. “Right now, our priority is to ensure we give the best treatment to our head constable. We have registered a case and made arrests in the matter. We will probe all aspects in the case and will also find out if anyone from BMC is at fault,” Mr Narayan told The Asian Age.
According to the Khar police, the constable is a resident of Mahim police quarters and his family consists of his wife and two grown up sons. The drive was conducted outside a dilapidated BMC structure that houses a market. Several illegal hawkers have come up on the footpath surrounding the structure and the BMC was carrying a demolition drive to flush them out. While they were destructing the fruit stall owned by Radha Gupta (around 50 years) they used a JCB crane. The crane was pulling out a plastic cover put above the illegal fruit stall and while pulling it down an iron net to which it was tied got mistakenly pulled down. The iron net fell on Mr Khavale who suffered grievous head injury.
Based on the BMC’s complaint, the Khar police has booked Gupta and her son Sagar alleging they should have informed the BMC about the iron net in advance. Further, they were creating obstructions during the demolition drive and in the melee the incident occurred.
The correspondent visited the spot on Sunday and a few eyewitnesses who saw the incident said that Mr Khavale got busy in moving onlookers away from the footpath and the iron net fell on him from behind. The onlookers had gathered as the BMC officials were hitting the hawkers who were not moving away from the spot. The Guptas lost their illegal fruit stall-incurring losses of around Rs 20,000.
Senior police inspector Dattatray Bhargudeof Khar police said, “The mother-son duo has been arrested under section 353 (Assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 337 (Causing hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others), 338 (grievous hurt), 341 (wrongful restraint) and 34 (common intention) IPC and remanded to our custody for a day.”
