Nirmala Desai,the first wife of police inspector Shivaji Patil who had allegedly committed suicide on Sunday at the Borivali police station,and her two brothers Baban Desai and Datta Desai were arrested and produced in the Borivali magistrate court on Monday morning. The three suspects were charged with extortion and abetment to suicide,and remanded to police custody till Friday. According to police,they have sought their remand to investigate about the moneyRs 7.5 lakh that Patil had allegedly paid Nirmala over the years owing to mounting pressure on him. Appearing on behalf of the three suspects,lawyer Vijay Thakur contented that police custody of Nirmala was not required as the prosecution had all the evidences including the custody of Patils service revolver that was reportedly used by him to commit suicide. The prosecution also has Patils suicide note and the legal notice sent to him which had allegedly forced him to shoot self,Thakur said. He further pleaded not to send Nirmala to police custody as she had undergone a bypass surgery a couple of years ago. He informed the court that she was a heart patient. This is a clear case of a man avoiding payment of maintenance to his wife for more than 30 years. The legal notice sent to him mentions his liability to pay the maintenance to his legally wedded wife Nirmala, said Thakur. Police Inspector Shivaji Patil committed suicide on Sunday morning by shooting himself with his service revolver. Police claimed that they found a suicide note written in Marathi by Patil. Although Nirmala had told him in writing that she had no objections to Patil remarrying,she has been allegedly pressurising him to pay money for the past few years. Accordingly,Patil had paid her Rs 7.5 lakh. However,she started demanding a sum of Rs 10 lakh more. This compelled him to commit suicide, said senior police inspector Bhagwan Chate of the Borivali police station. Asked about the money that Patil had allegedly paid to Nirmala,Thakur said,Is it possible to extort money from a policeman as is claimed by the prosecution? Moreover,if he had indeed paid her anything,why are the police silent?
