A chartered accountant attached to the State Bank of India (SBI) has been arrested, along with his father and brother, for allegedly attempting to murder his brother-in-law over a demand for dowry.
Jayprakash Prasad (35), a resident of Sanjog CHS at Sector 9 in Vashi, was arrested on February 19. He married Nivedita, a senior assistant at SBI, in 2015 after meeting through a matrimonial site. According to the police, the family had since then been harassing Nivedita for dowry. The couple has two sons aged three-and-a-half and two.
On February 15, Ms. Nivedita’s brother Sunilkumar Gupta, a garment businessman in Uttar Pradesh, visited the Prasad family to resolve the differences. Mr. Prasad demanded a car, and to avoid further arguments, Mr. Gupta walked out of the flat. But Mr. Prasad followed him out and attacked him with a knife, the police said.
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“While he attacked Mr. Gupta, his father, mother and brother kept encouraging him to hit him even more,” assistant police inspector Deepak Shikhare from Vashi police station said. Following the assault, Ms. Nivedita rushed her brother to hospital, while her husband and in-laws fled.
On ventilator support
The police recorded Mr. Gupta’s statement at Apollo Hospital. “He was conscious only while giving his statement, but has since been unconscious and on ventilator support,” Mr. Shikhare said.
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A case of attempt to murder was registered on February 16 against Mr. Prasad, his father Dinanath (58), mother Lakhpatodevi (55), and brother Nitesh Kumar (22). During investigations, Mr. Shikhare learnt that the family had fled to Jharkhand. The police reached there on February 19 and arrested Mr. Prasad, his father and brother. They returned to Navi Mumbai on February 21.
Mr. Gupta has injuries to the stomach, head and jaw. He had to undergo a surgery and got 22 stitches on his stomach. The accused have been arrested for attempt to murder, assault and dowry harassment, and are in police custody till February 26.