Denied salary raise, railway police constable beats senior officer to death

Kolsewadi police station senior inspector M R Deshmukh said the incident occurred at the RPF headquarters in Kalyan around 8.30 pm on Wednesday. The accused, Pankaj Yadav (40), and Garg had a fight around two years ago, leading to bad blood between them, he added.

Deshmukh said Yadav believed Garg used his position to institute an inquiry against him on disciplinary grounds and cut his salary. “Over the past two years, Garg allegedly got Yadav’s salary reduced on disciplinary grounds to the extent that he only got basic pay,” he added.

Believing that it was all Garg’s doing, Yadav confronted him at the RPF headquarters, where there are barracks for police personnel posted there, on Wednesday night. Garg shared a barrack on the ground floor with some other officers. When Yadav entered his room, he was alone, lying on the bed listening to music. Yadav allegedly picked up a stick kept nearby and clobbered Garg’s head several times.

An officer said that by the time other police personnel realised what had happened and rushed there, Yadav had left the spot.

Garg was rushed to hospital, where he died early Thursday morning. Kolsewadi police registered a murder case and began a hunt for Yadav, who lived in Roha. He was, however, not present at his house. Within a few hours, however, the police managed to track him down at Pen on Thursday morning. He was brought to the police station and placed under arrest. Yadav was produced before a local court and remanded in police custody.

The officer said they will record the statements of senior officers of both the deceased and accused to find out what transpired between them. Police said Garg’s family, which lives in Pune, was informed about the incident.