A year after petrol bomb attack, India’s ‘Iron Man’ still lives in fear

Mumbai A year after a petrol bomb was thrown at his house, the ‘Iron Man’ of India, Hardik Patil, fears for his life as he has allegedly been getting threat calls from associates of Rohan Thakur, the son of Jayendra alias Bhai Thakur and Golden Gang leader Chandrakant Khopde

Mumbai A year after a petrol bomb was thrown at his house, the ‘Iron Man’ of India, Hardik Patil, fears for his life as he has allegedly been getting threat calls from associates of Rohan Thakur, the son of Jayendra alias Bhai Thakur and Golden Gang leader Chandrakant Khopde.

A year after petrol bomb attack, India’s ‘Iron Man’ still lives in fear

Patil, who has won several international titles, said that since the failed attempt on his in May 2022, he has been harassed by local goons and political party members. “I was not at home when the petrol bomb was thrown inside my house. However, my father was home,” said the Virar resident.

After the attack, the Virar police had registered a case and arrested three men identified as Durvas Vengurlekar (24), Ranjit Dalvi (23) and Mitul Rawan (30) who were present at the spot.

“After scanning CCTV footages while tracing the three accused, we tracked down Vengurlekar with the help of CDR and found him talking on the phone. We arrested him and two others,” said PSI Sandesh Rane, investigating officer of the case. The three arrested men revealed the names other accused, including the main conspirators Kanchan Thakur and Rohan Thakur.

Of the nine people booked in the case so far, the police have arrested seven who are currently out on bail. “Kanchan’s anticipatory bail was rejected by the sessions court last week and he is untraceable. While Rohan is out of the country and we have issued a look out notice,” Rane said.

“We do not know the motive behind the crime as yet as the main accused are absconding and the seven other have claimed they were just following the orders,” he added.

“One of the accused - Raj Vasant Patil had told the police that the murder was planned at his house where Rohan was also present. He has also confessed this in front of the magistrate,” Patil’s lawyer advocate Pratap Nimbalkar said.

Patil, meanwhile, claimed he suspects that Rohan did not like the fact that he was having an affair with his former wife. “It could have also been the business rivalry. Although, there has been no communication about this between us,” said Patil.

Patil, however, said that he wants Rohan and Kanchan arrested as he has been living in fear. “I have been getting threat calls from Shailu Khopde, son of Chandrakant Khopde, but as it is on mobile phone, the police have just registered a non-cognizable offence. Khopde keeps threatening me to withdraw the case back or else he would kill me. Kanchan is his close associate,” said Patil.