Youth ends life, blames cops in suicide note

MUMBAI: A 26-year-old youth from Charkop ended his life on the railway tracks near Virar on Tuesday after blaming the local police and some boys from his neighbourhood for pushing him over the edge.
In his three-page suicide note, Nikesh Bhandari said the Charkop police did not record his statement properly after he was assaulted by a group of eight boys during Holi.Nikesh alleged the police tried to protect one of the accused. The last straw, Nikesh said, was on April 11 when an inspector threatened his younger brother Chaitanya.
“A common man isn’t safe anymore and I want every citizen to know this. I’m taking this drastic step due to harassment from the police and from boys in my neighbourhood who attacked me so badly. I do not want my family to be threatened or assaulted following my death,” Nikesh said in his suicide note.
Earlier in the day, Nikesh’s family and friends demonstrated outside the Charkop police station for several hours, demanding that the people responsible for his death be brought to book.
Nikesh was found dead between Virar and Vaitarna stations around 6.30am on Tuesday. He was mowed down by a long-distance train. The GRP later recovered the suicide note from Nikesh’s residence.
Nikesh was an artist by profession and stayed in Charkop’s Sector 2 with his parents, Chaitanya and sister-in-law.
The assault case dates back to March 8 when the eight youths thrashed Nikesh, Chaitanya and their friends with bats and stumps. Nikesh was admitted to the ICCU of Bhagwati Hospital. He identified the attackers in his suicide note as Sachin Ghag, Santosh Gawli, Sumedh Tate, Sunil Tate, Ravi Gurav. Mahesh Lad, Jagdish Lad and Ashish Gawli.
“When Nikesh told Charkop police officers that Ghag was among the attackers, they refused to believe him. They claimed that Ghag was with them on the day of the incident. Ghag has political connections,” said Nikesh’s friend Sushil Pandey. On March 10, Nikesh was abruptly shifted out of the ICCU to the general ward despite his injuries, his family said. Later in the day, he was discharged. “At the request of another doctor known to us, Nikesh was re-admitted to the hospital’s general ward,” Nikesh’s father Nandkumar said. “Inspector Pravin Patil from the Charkop police station came to the hospital to record Nikesh’s statements but missed out on some crucial points.
Nikesh said that he had vomitted blood and the accused were drunk. These facts were omitted from his statement and we weren’t given a copy,” Nandkumar added.
The police said they had initially booked the attackers for attempt to murder, a non-bailable offence. “But the victims’ medical reports showed that their injuries weren’t severe. So the charges were reduced to assault, which is a bailable offence,” an officer said.
A few days later, Nikesh returned home from hospital and was disturbed to see the accused strutting around freely in the locality. “He feared for his life and wrote a letter to senior police officers, complaining about the incomplete statement recorded by Patil,” said a relative.
On April 11, Patil called up Chaitanya and asked him to come to the police station. When Chaitanya said he had to go to work, Patil allegedly threatened him and asked why they had written a letter against him to his superiors.
Nikesh slipped out of home early on Tuesday after Chaitanya informed him about Patil’s call. “We identified Nikesh’s body from two tattoos. The face was disfigured,” said Pandey.