Traffic constable Anil Aitivadekar,42,died Wednesday,a week after he had been set on fire by an autorickshaw driver in Vasai. After arresting autorickshaw driver Mahendra Kevat,we had charged him with attempt to murder. Now that the victim of the offence has died,the charge will be upgraded to that of murder, said Dy SP (Thane rural) Deepak Devraj. Aitivadekar was with the Thane rural police. Before this attack,Kevat faced charges of assaulting another traffic policeman who had ticked him off for violations,and then of raping a minor girl. A court today extended Kevats police custody till November 10. Last Wednesday,Aitivadekar had pulled Kevat up for not driving his auto without proper papers and soliciting passengers without parking in the auto stand. Kevat then doused him in petrol from a bottle and set him on fire. Aitivadekar was rushed to Golden Park Hospital by other auto drivers. He was being treated there by burn specialists from Masina Hospital. He was shifted to Masina Hospital on October 29, said Dy SP (Thane rural,traffic) Nagesh Lohar. Aitivadekar died in the Masina Hospital at Byculla at 6.10 am. The body was later sent to JJ Hospital. Kevat had fled after the incident and was tracked down in the early hours of Thursday. He was then trying to flee from Vasai to his hometown in Uttar Pradesh. Aitivadekars family was in mourning. The postmortem report says the constable died due to burn injuries. He had suffered 40 per cent burns, said Dr T P Lahane,JJ Hospital dean.
