Constable found dead under the Vashi bridge, cops suspect suicide

A constable posted at the Govandi police station was found dead under the railway bridge connecting Vashi and Mankhurd on Sunday. Some fishermen spotted a body on the rocks near the Vashi creek around 6.30am and informed the police, officers said.

A constable posted at the Govandi police station was found dead under the railway bridge connecting Vashi and Mankhurd on Sunday. Some fishermen spotted a body on the rocks near the Vashi creek around 6.30am and informed the police, officers said.

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The police suspect Kamlakar Shantaram Dhamanskar may have committed suicide, as his family members said he was depressed over a property dispute with his siblings.

Dhamanskar, a resident of Shivaji Nagar in Govandi, was posted at the Govandi police station two years ago. He worked the night shift on Friday and left the police station around 9am on Saturday, the police said. But he did not reach home.

“His wife Asha called him in the afternoon, but he told her he would not be coming home as was stuck with some work. His phone was switched off after that,” said Shahaji Umap, deputy commissioner of police, (zone I), Navi Mumbai.

Asha approached the police in the evening, who then started looking for him.

“As soon as we received the call from the fishermen on Sunday morning, our officers rushed to the spot. It was very difficult to reach the body because of the low tide. However, with the help of the fire brigade and the fishermen, we recovered the body,” said Suraj Padvi, police inspector (crime) from Vashi police station.

He was taken to the NMMC hospital in Vashi, but was declared brought dead, said the police.“We identified him with the help of his identity card recovered from his pocket. He is survived by two children,” Padvi said.

According to the postmortem reports, the constable died from drowning. There were no injury marks on his body.

“Dhamanskar’s mother owns a plot that is to be developed by the Slum Rehabilitation Authority (SRA). He needed NOCs from his siblings to get the redevelopment started. He had been very worried about this. We are probing further,” Pathare said.

A case of accidental death has been registered.