Khar land shark absconding: Cops

Clarence Pereira (left) and the bungalow he had ‘usurped’

The Khar police, who registered an FIR against the land shark and his woman accomplice after mid-day's exposé in ‘The old and the vulnerable' series, is set to widen its probe in the multi-crore land usurping case. The investigating team suspects the involvement of Thane Mental Hospital (TMH) staff in helping the land shark, Clarence Pereira alias Peter, and his accomplices exploited loopholes to get the ailing bungalow owner, Marietta Fernandes, discharged.

The 54-year-old Fernandes was admitted to a mental asylum on November 27, 2020 after she was found with the decomposed body of her mother Yvonne in the said bungalow at Chuim village in Khar west. On April 29, 2021, she was taken out of the asylum by Pereira and his accomplices. mid-day had reported that the role of the Asylum was under the scanner.

Marietta Fernandes has claimed she was kept hostage at a rented house of Pereira's accomplice Nilima Deshmukh in Andheri, where she was assaulted and beaten up

During these five months, sources said, Pereira met Dr Sanjay Bodade, medical superintendent of Thane Mental Hospital on many occasions. mid-day had earlier reported that Pereira's daughter Rachael alias Preeti had said that ‘Dr. Bodade is good friend of her father'.

Medical Superintendent not present

"First of all I am not his (Pereira's) friend. I speak Konkani and met him hardly once or twice. Secondly, I was on leave on the day (April 29) Marietta was discharged from the hospital, as I had tested positive. The charge of Medical Superintendent of Thane Mental Hospital was given to Makrand Patil, who is a class one anesthetic," said Dr. Bodade who has now been transferred to Palghar district as a Civil Surgeon.

After the land grabbing matter was highlighted in the series of mid-day reports, sources at Khar police said, Pereira moved court to seek legal respite. "After we recorded the statement of Marietta, Pereira moved court to seek anticipatory bail but that time the FIR was not registered," said a senior police officer.

Pereira managed to get relief from the court and the cops cannot arrest him for 72 hours after the registration of FIR. "We have served a notice but he was not available at the house when our team visited. He will be arrested after 72 hours for sure," said the police officer.

Accused arrived with wife and son in tow

Impersonating Marietta's uncle, Pereira had got her discharged from TMH. Marietta said his (Pereira's) wife Nancy and son Rafael had also come to TMH on April 29, 2021 to get her discharged.

A senior police officer said, "We will record the statements of all those - including mental hospital staff - who were present at the mental asylum when Marietta was discharged. We will investigate how she was handed over to persons who are not even her relatives."

After getting her discharged from the hospital, Pereira took her to Khar police station almost a month later ie on May 22 and submitted an application to get the bungalow's keys. After three days, PSI Tanaji Kolthe handed over the keys to Marietta in the presence of Pereira - who took her to Chuim village on pretext of getting her ancestral property cleaned.

"In her statement she said that on pretext of getting her bungalow cleaned, Pereira, Nilima Deshmukh and others stole her expensive belongings worth R20 lakh. We are probing who helped Pereira and others in this," said another police officer.

Khar police are also trying to get the CCTV footage of nearby areas where Marietta's ancestral property is located in Chuim village to ‘find who helped the accused in transporting the expensive belongings'.

After being discharged from mental hospital, Marietta said, she was kept hostage at a rented house of Pereira's accomplice Nilima Deshmukh in Andheri, where she was assaulted and beaten up.

Another officer in the investigating team told mid-day, "We will take the details of each day from Marietta to understand how badly she was harassed. It seems it was a planned move to usurp her property. So, we need to find out who hatched this plan and since when they were conspiring. The role of Pereira's wife and their children will also be verified."

A senior police officer said, "If needed, sections will be added to the FIR and if the role of others is found, they will be made co-accused."

Accused's wife peeps out

mid-day has learnt that after registering an FIR a team from Khar police station visited the bungalow on Monday night. Preeti peeped from inside but didn't open the safety door. She didn't allow the police to enter the bungalow, said a source.

"When police asked the whereabouts of Marietta Fernandes, she replied ‘Marietta is not in Mumbai and she is in Goa on vacation'. When police asked who are in the bungalow, she replied ‘My male friend is with her; we are Marietta's family members'," police sources told mid-day.

Pereira was not at the bungalow when cops visited there on Monday night, said the source.