CCTV at police station wasn’t working

The Mumbai crime branch investigating the shooting at Vakola police station recorded the statement of eight policemen who were on night duty. The closed circuit television (CCTV) camera fixed outside senior inspector Vilas Joshi’s cabin was not working at the time of the incident, said investigators.

The Mumbai crime branch investigating the shooting at Vakola police station recorded the statement of eight policemen who were on night duty. The closed circuit television (CCTV) camera fixed outside senior inspector Vilas Joshi’s cabin was not working at the time of the incident, said investigators.

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Officials have seized the DVR recorder of the CCTV camera and have sent it for forensic analysis to find out since when the camera has not been functional.

Officers from the crime branch said assistant sub-inspector Dilip Shrike was suffering from hypertension and had been unwell for a long time.

“Shirke went on sick leave for almost 38 days at the start of the year. Whenever he was pulled up, his blood pressure would rise and he would lose his cool. On some occasions, during his posting at the DN Nagar police station, he would say he would kill someone before he killed himself,” said a crime branch officer.

On Saturday, Shirke reached the police station at 8pm. He went to Joshi’s cabin and questioned him why he had been marked absent for the night before.

When he heard the gunshots, Aher went running back and found Joshi lying in a pool of blood near his cabin door.

According to officials, Shirke and Joshi had another argument. As the senior inspector started to leave the room, Shirke loaded his revolver and shot three rounds. When he saw Aher, Shirke fired a fourth round. He then fired two more rounds and killed himself.

Sources said someone had informed Shirke earlier that he had been marked absent. He had even called up the police station to inquire about it. The investigators are now trying to find out where he made the phone call from.

The Vakola police are also assisting the crime branch collect Shirke’s service record.