Fearing that the police would label him as 'thief, a 21-year-old ended his life in Titwala, Thane. Family of dead man says cops harassed him for stealing bike he bought with hard-earned cash
The family of Mitesh Jagtap has accused the police of driving their son to suicide
Fearing that the police would label him as "thief", a 21-year-old ended his life in Titwala, Thane, yesterday. His parents have alleged that the Titwala police took their son's mobile phone and jacket on the pretext of probing his role in a bike theft case. Mitesh Rajesh Jagtap had a diploma in automobiles and was looking for a job for the last few months. He lived with his parents and younger brother, Jatin Jagtap, 18, in Nyaneshwar Nagar, Titwala. His father works as a security guard and mother takes tuitions at home.
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Mitesh allegedly hanged himself between 1.30 am and 2.30 am in the hall of his ground floor flat in Sai Prasad Building. His family was sleeping at the time of the incident. "We both sleep in the hall, while our parents sleep in the bedroom," said Jatin. "He came home around 1.30 am on Wednesday, after which we went to sleep. When I got up around 2.30 am, I found his limp body, hanging from the fan. I rushed to wake up my parents. I realised that he had even locked their bedroom door from the outside," he added.
Mitesh Jagtap
The family has blamed the police for Mitesh's death. His father Rajesh said that the police had begun harassing their son earlier this week. "On Monday, around 2.30 am, the chain of Mitesh's motorcycle, a Suzuki Gixxer, broke down and he was waiting to get it repaired. Two patrolling police constables from Titwala inquired why he was on the road late in the night," said Rajesh.
According to Rajesh, as the motorcycle had been given for servicing just a day ago, its number plate had not been fitted. The policemen got suspicious and began questioning Mitesh. "The cops were confident that the motorcycle had been stolen. Mitesh told them that he had all the documents related to the bike, and even called me to bring them to him. I reached the spot with the documents and cleared the police officers' doubts," Rajesh added.
However, the officers took Mitesh's mobile phone and jacket and asked him to visit the police station later in the day. "When we reached the police station around 10 am the next morning, we were made to wait till 3.30 pm. The officers then asked us to return in the evening," the father added.
Later, we were told that a senior officer had instructed other officers to interrogate Mitesh's role in a bike theft case. "A bike robbery had taken place behind the Titwala police station, and the cops had threatened to book him for it. They continued to harass him over the next two days," said a maternal uncle of the deceased.
Mitesh was allegedly disturbed with the unexpected turn of events. "He committed suicide due to harassment and pressure from the police," Rajesh said. When contacted, Pradeep Kasbe, senior police inspector, Titwala police, denied the allegations. "He used to roam around in the night. As protocol, we did question him, but after checking his documents, he was released. We never called him up again." The police have registered an accidental death report in the case.
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