Chain snatcher found dead in Arthur Road jail

A 37-year-old undertrial at Arthur Road jail allegedly committed suicide inside his barrack on Thursday night.

A 37-year-old undertrial at Arthur Road jail allegedly committed suicide inside his barrack on Thursday night.

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Manoj Bansode, an Andheri resident, was arrested the Meghwadi police on December 14 for chain snatching, and remanded to judicial custody.

He was in the jail since December 15, his custody was to end on December 30.

The NM Joshi Marg police said Bansode hanged himself using a bedsheet while his cellmates were asleep. “The four others who shared the cell with Bansode were unaware of the incident,” said Senior Inspector Vasant Tajne of the NM Joshi police station.

The death was discovered by prison guards around 11.45 pm. “We have registered it as accidental death and are trying to ascertain the motive,” added Tajne. Bansode’s family alleged he would never have committed suicide and alleged the prison officials were trying to conceal something.

“It is impossible for a prisoner to commit suicide inside a jail that has so much security. We are yet to see the body but we suspect the police or his cellmates assaulted him,” said Vandana Dawri, Bansode’s sister-in-law.The family confronted the police on why the body was removed from the spot without informing them first.

“How can we believe it was suicide? If it was, they should have at least informed someone in the family and asked them to see the body before removing it,” Dawri said.

Bansode, an alcohol addict, was a plumber who lived with his wife Sarika and two children at Andheri. “When the police picked him up, Sarika thought it was because he had stolen something under the influence of alcohol,” Dawri said.

While there were no external injuries on his body, Tajne said the police are yet to get the post-mortem report, which will determine the direction of the investigation.

“We are questioning the inmates now. We have also recorded the statements of his wife and mother-in-law. They have doubts about the nature of the death,” he said.