Rescued from the cops

According to the residents of the Simla House co-operative housing society, sub-inspectors Rane and Phulpagare from the Malabar Hill police station arrived at around 7 pm seeking to open premises no. 37. Since the place was locked they sought help from the two watchmen Inderkumar Jha and Lalit Chaudhary. When the latter refused, the officers started kicking and fisting the duo and abused the residents.

A resident of the building Tawheed Sofia told Express Newsline that the inspectors had asked for one Suresh alias Tarang alias Tadgola to open the premises that once belonged to the society’s electrician. The trouble started when the watchmen refused to break open the doors.

“The situation was brought under control when the zonal Deputy Commissioner Param Bir Singh visited the spot and apologised. But the situation worsened as soon as he left,” recalled Sofia.

Society secretary Allan Rebello stated that the incident took place over the electrician’s room. “This miscreant (Tadgola) wanted to forcibly take possession of the premises with the connivance of the local police. The police kept telling us `We will teach you people how the police works!’,” alleged Rebello.

The police, however, have a different story. Senior police inspector Dhairyasingh Bhonsale from the Malabar Hill police station claimed that the police rushed to the building after receiving a complaint from Yashodra Narayan Gurav, who claimed to be the legitimate owner of premises No 37.

According to Bhosale the residents took the law in their own hands and stopped the police from coming out of the building premises. “We had to physically rescue the sub-inspector,” he remarked. Sources in the Malabar Hill police station said that the incident is being probed and action initiated against sub-inspector Rane. Meanwhile, the residents met the Commissioner of Police Ronnie Mendonca and have also written to the Deputy Chief Minister Gopinath Munde on Monday seeking his intervention.