Man held for blackmail turns out to be father ‘killer’
The Andheri police told them that Dattaram’s brother-in-law Vishnu Parab had alleged he had been killed by Shailesh.
When the Rabodi police in Thane arrested 32-year-old Shailesh Salaskar on Tuesday for allegedly trying to extort money from a woman in his locality, little did they know he had murdered his father just the previous day.
On Monday evening, a woman staying in the Kasal Mill area approached the Rabodi police and alleged that Shailesh, who stays in the same area and has been acquainted with her for the last four to five years, had been trying to blackmail her.
“She said in her complaint that Shailesh had been demanding money from her and threatening to spread rumours about her character if she did not comply with his demands. We registered a complaint of extortion and sent a team to Shailesh’s residence, but he was not at home at the time. We started making inquiries as to his whereabouts and learned he was supposed to leave for Dubai on May 14, after which we intensified our search for him,” said senior police Inspector M D Survase, Rabodi police station.
On Tuesday morning, the police once against sent a team to Shailesh’s residence and found him at home, after which they brought him to the police station and placed him under arrest. Officers said Shailesh was behaving normal and no one guessed at the time that he had committed a murder just hours ago.
Late Tuesday afternoon, the Rabodi police received a call from the Andheri police that Shailesh’s father Dattaram (70) had been declared dead before admission at the Cooper Hospital in Vile Parle. The Andheri police told them that Dattaram’s brother-in-law Vishnu Parab had alleged he had been killed by Shailesh.
“Dattaram had called Parab at 3.30 am on Monday and said Shailesh had attacked him and that he was on his way over to Parab’s place. Parab did not think the incident was serious in nature as there used to be frequent fights between the father and son. Dattaram then took a taxi to come to Andheri but passed out on the way. The taxi driver sought the help of a patrolling police constable, who rushed him to Parab’s residence,” said senior inspector Pradeep Gosavi of Andheri police station.
Dattaram was then rushed to the Cooper Hospital, where a preliminary medical examination indicated internal injuries to the head. He was scheduled for a CT Scan but he succumbed to his injuries around 12:15 pm on Tuesday, the police said.
Based on Parab’s statement, the Andheri police registered a complaint of murder against Shailesh, not knowing he had already been arrested by the Rabodi police for an extortion case. The murder case was subsequently handed over to the Rabodi police for further investigation.
“Shailesh has been remanded to police custody till May 9. We are interrogating him further to know more about the events that led to Dattaram’s murder,” said Survase.
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