HC to cops: Lodge FIR against Rajan's wife

The police were directed by the HC to lodge an FIR against Chhota Rajan's wife and associates while hearing a petition filed by Dr Preeti Mayekar

The police were directed by the Bombay high court, on Monday, to lodge an FIR against Chhota Rajan's wife and associates while hearing a petition demanding the same filed by Dr Preeti Mayekar.

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The division bench of justice Khanwilkar and justice Bhangale directed the police to lodge an FIR against underworld don Rajan's wife Sujata Nikhalje and her associates Gurudas Limaye, Deepak Chavan and slumlord Pappu alias Anna.

Mayekar moved the HC when the police refused to register an FIR against Nikhalje and her associates for keeping her mother Sujata Patil, 73, and son Prathamesh, 9, locked inside their apartment at Dattakripa Co-operative House Society in Kurla.

The court in addition to rapping the police for not lodging the first information report (FIR), also ordered them to produce Mayekar's missing brother Tushar Patil in court by December 20. Mayekar has alleged that Patil has been missing since November 20, following threats from Limaye, Chavan and Anna. Appearing for Mayekar, advocate Gunaratan Sadavarte argued that the alleged offence is a cognizable one.

Thus, the police had no grounds to refuse to lodge the FIR. "They (the police) have been working as servants of Chhota Rajan's gang," Sadavarte said. "We cannot lodge the complaint on the basis of Mayekar's earlier statements" argued public prosecutor MH Mhatre.

Mayekar's mother and son were produced in court on Tuesday. Her petition alleges that when she last tried to meet them on December 6, she was prevented from entering the premises and threatened.

The petition has alleged that threats began when the City Civil Court in response to Mayekar's complaint stayed the construction work started by Ekdant Developers within the premises of her residence. The alleged construction was undertaken without any prior agreement with the residents.

The accused were also directed to file an undertaking, that they would not harm Mayekar and her family or try to dispossess them of their property.

However, when Mayekar continued to receive threats, she wrote to the director general of police, police commissioner and senior inspector of Nehru Nagar police station. She has alleged in her petition that her brother Tushar went missing after she filed police complaints on November 19 and 22.

UPDATE

Pursuant to the High Court order, the Nehru Nagar police station had registered an offence against Limaye, Ramjit Vishwakarma and Deepak Chavan for having allegedly wrongfully confined at gun-point and threatened the complainant and her mother to vacate their house to pave the way for redevelopment of the property.

They were tried for the charges, but in absence of the evidence of the complainant woman and her mother, the Vikhroli metropolitan magistrate court on August 1, 2017 acquitted all of them for want of cogent evidence, observing that the prosecution had “miserably failed” to prove the charges leveled against them.