Vehicle thief assaults Mumbai constable during ride to police station
Constable Sunil Kadam is in a critical condition and battling for life; thief booked for attempted murder
A police constable was seriously injured while he was escorting a suspected vehicle thief to Gamdevi police station as the bike they were riding on crashed into a concrete and marble bench last week. The accused, Sirajuddin Shaikh, was arrested on Thursday.
The incident took place on May 11 during a nakabandi. Sunil Dattatray Kadam, 52, along with three colleagues, had been posted at the south-bound stretch on Cadbury Junction at Pedder Road.
Kadam is in a critical condition and battling for life.
Around 2.30am, they stopped three men who were riding on a bike which had one digit missing from the number plate. When asked about the number plate, the men failed to give a satisfactory response. The cops then asked the rider, Sirajuddin Shaikh, 24, to produce his driving licence and vehicle documents.
While the police were checking other vehicles, Shaikh’s accomplices managed to flee the spot. Following this, Kadam sat on Shaikh’s bike and asked him to ride to the police station. Instead, Shaikh took a U-turn from the junction and began to move towards Haji Ali.
Shaikh threatened to kill Kadam if he did not get off the bike. Shaikh increased the speed of the bike in the hope that Kadam would lose control and fall off the bike. Kadam then screamed for help, capturing the attention of the other cops. The police began chasing Kadam’s bike in their van.
“Shaikh abused Kadam, and threatened to kill him if he did not get off the bike. When Kadam did not budge, Shaikh increased the bike’s speed and rode rashly to ensure Kadam lost balance and fell off,” said a police officer.
He then began riding with one hand and hitting Kadam with the other. In the process, the bike crashed into two other bikes, but he kept moving.
Around 100 metres ahead, Shaikh crashed the bike into a bench on a footpath at high speed causing both of them to fall off the bike and get injured.
Both of them were rushed to the Bombay hospital. Kadam suffered injuries on his head, neck, and legs, and is still unconscious. Shaikh was discharged on Thursday and subsequently arrested.
Investigations revealed that Shaikh is a history-sheeter with theft cases registered against at the Vikhroli police station.
Anup Dange, inspector, Gamdevi police station, said, “Shaikh was riding rashly with the intention to kill Kadam, so that he could escape. One of his friends is also a habitual criminal and we strongly suspect that night, they were heading to commit some crime.”
Kadam is currently in a critical condition and is battling for life, Dange added.
Shaikh has been booked under sections 308 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 353 (assault or criminal force to deter public servant from discharge of his duty), 365 (kidnapping or abducting with intent secretly and wrongfully to confine person), 279 (rash driving), 333 (voluntarily causing grievous hurt to any person being a public servant ), 336 (act endangering life or personal safety of others) and 338 (causing grievous hurt by act endangering life or personal safety of others) of Indian Penal Code.