Accused’s neighbours thought he was a cop

A broken nameplate lying on the floor outside flat number 54 is located of the ‘E’ wing of Sai Leela building, Sai Nagar, Panvel bore the name ‘Premsingh’ and the words ‘special exec’ [short for Special Executive Officer], reports G Mohiuddin Jeddy.

A broken nameplate lying on the floor outside flat number 54 is located of the ‘E’ wing of Sai Leela building, Sai Nagar, Panvel bore the name ‘Premsingh’ and the words ‘special exec’ [short for Special Executive Officer].

HT Image

Defence lawyer Praful Mhatre said that Premsingh Savitri is a geologist from the mining state of Jharkhand.

Hindustan Times visited Singh’s house. Despite repeated knocks no one opened the door. The iron safety door was probably locked from within. There was no lock visible outside.

The shoe rack outside was full of footwear.

A neighbour said that Premsingh lived in the flat with his wife, a school-going son and a daughter who went to nursery.

M. A. Khan, a retired Indian Air Force employee and Premsingh’s neighbour said, “He was a policeman. There was ‘police’ written on his motorcycle.”

Khan, however, said he had never seen Premsingh in uniform.

“His arrest is a surprise,” he said.

“He was rude. We couldn’t even touch his bike,” said Sujeet, a resident of the locality. “Nobody confronted him because we all thought he was a policeman.”

Another boy said, “There was this woman who visited him often.” A Navi Mumbai police officer requesting anonymity denied that Premsingh was a police officer.