The Panvel City police have arrested six people in connection with the death of a 42-year-old inmate at an alcohol and drug rehabilitation centre in Sangurli.
The six arrested include three directors of Harmony Foundation — Abhijit Patil, Haresh Shivram Gharat and Sandeep Babu Pardeshi — who have been on the run since they were booked on March 30. Ashok Dudhe, deputy commissioner of police, Zone II, said, “All six were arrested from different places and were involved in assaulting the victim.”
List of accused
Mr. Patil (26), a resident of Alibaug, was arrested from Mumbai on Monday. His arrest led the police to the other directors: Mr. Pardeshi (41), a resident of Borivali, and Mr. Gharat (32), a resident of Alibaug. The police also arrested three employees of the centre: Shekhar Shankarrao Pawar (32), a resident of Sector 40 in Nerul; Devendra Raghunath Patil (20), a resident of Alibaug; and Rupesh Anant Patil (28), also hailing from Alibaug.
Fight for life
The police said that the deceased had been identified as Prashant Pawar, a resident of Marol, who was undergoing treatment at the centre since February last year. On March 6, Mr. Gharat called Pawar’s father and told him that his son was suffering from jaundice and was in a serious condition. Pawar was admitted to Aadhar Hospital in Panvel and later shifted to Global Hospital in Parel. He was then moved to Nair Hospital, where he succumbed to injuries on March 23.
The directors of the rehab initially claimed that Pawar’s liver had swollen as he had jaundice. However, a CT scan at Global Hospital revealed that there were five fractures on Pawar’s ribs. The police said that the directors allegedly assaulted the inmates who had failed to obey their orders.
The police said that there were 183 inmates at the centre, but after the directors went absconding, they started fleeing from the centre from April 1.
The accused have been charged under Sections 302 (murder), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to screen offender), and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code.
