Alleged chain snatcher attempts suicide, slits throat in Navi Mumbai police’s custody

A 35-year-old man, who was arrested by the Nerul police on Saturday for being allegedly involved in several chain snatching cases, tried to commit suicide by slitting his throat with a windowpane inside the police station.

A 35-year-old man, who was arrested by the Nerul police on Saturday for being allegedly involved in several chain snatching cases, tried to commit suicide by slitting his throat with a windowpane inside the police station on Monday. He is now recuperating at JJ hospital in Mumbai.

Najir Ahmad Shaikh is recuperating at JJ hospital in Mumbai. (HT Photo for Representation)

According to the police, Najir Ahmad Shaikh, a resident of Kharghar and his accomplice Mukhtar Khan, 37, were arrested during a nakabandi at Nerul on Saturday afternoon. The police claim that both of them are involved in several chain snatching cases in the city. “Around 2.30 pm, our officials took Shaikh to the detection room for some interrogation and that’s when Shaikh told our officials that he wanted to use the washroom and one of our constables accompanied him to the toilet,” said Adhikrao Pol, senior police inspector of Nerul police station.

“We don’t allow such accused to bolt the door from inside when they go to the toilet. Shaikh however, bolted the door as soon as he entered the toilet. When he did not open the door even after repeated requests, we broke open the door after sometime. By then, he had removed part of the windowpane and cut the upper layers of skin of his throat,” he said.

The police immediately rushed him to NMMC hospital in Vashi. “The doctors told us that Shaikh’s injury was minor and there’s no need of admitting him to the hospital. They put a bandage on his neck and told us to take him back. However, we thought, he could do something else again in the police station and hence we took him to JJ hospital and admitted him there. The doctors discharged him on Tuesday morning too, but we have kept him there for some more time,” Pol said.

The police booked Shaikh under Sections 392 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code when he was arrested on Saturday. On Monday, he was again booked for attempting to commit suicide. According to Pol, Shaikh is a habitual offender and had been spotted committing crimes in the CCTV footage of Kharghar, Kamothe and Kalamboli.