Mumbai: Allegations of fraud push SRA society chairman to suicide

Mohammed's family members mourn his death at their Aman Ekta Society flat in Powai. Pic/Rajesh Gupta

Repeated allegations of financial wrongdoings by six residents of an SRA building in Powai forced the society's chairman to commit suicide. However, before the 68-year-old man hanged himself inside an empty flat in the same building on April 18, he sent WhatsApp messages to the accused and wrote two suicide notes, which were recovered from his pocket. The Powai police have booked all the accused, but are yet to make any arrests in the case.

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Back in 2006

Deceased Mohammed Jamal Yusuf Sheikh moved to Aman Ekta Society at Powai under the SRA scheme in 2006, with his wife Sufiya, son Aslam Jamal Sheikh and daughter-in-law Khairunnisa from Indira Nagar in Bandra, where he earlier resided. Soon after, he became the chairman of the housing society. However, since early 2018, six residents started leveling allegations of wrongdoing against him. They often held Mohammed responsible for delaying clearances and eventually accused him of being involved in financial irregularities.

Mohammed's son Aslam said, "My father dedicated most of his time to the society's work. That's why when the residents started leveling these allegations against him he got very disturbed. But he never spoke about the problems. He had even sent records and documents related to the society to MMRDA and the registrar office as well."

'He never bowed to threats'

According to sources, as the allegations of wrongdoing eventually turned into that of fraud, Mohammed became very anxious. "Each of the six accused residents had demanded '1 lakh from him to end the matter. My father did not bow to these threats and rejected the offer," Aslam added.

Sources said on the day of the incident, Mohammed had left home to take a stroll. Usually he would be back by 5pm, but that day neither did he return, nor answer his calls. Around 8.30pm, his daughter-in-law Khairunnisa left home to enquire about his whereabouts. She got to know from a neighbour that Mohammed had taken the keys of flat number 213, which was empty. When she rushed to the second floor and knocked on the door, there was no response. She called her son Shoaib to the second floor and asked him to break open the door.

Two suicide notes

"To our shock, we saw grandpa hanging from the ceiling by a rope. We immediately called the police, who reached the spot and recovered two suicide notes from his pocket," said Shoaib. One was for the police and the other for us. Though the cops rushed him to Rajawadi Hospital, Ghatkopar, the doctors declared him brought dead.

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'He was innocent'

Mohammed has alleged that Naeem Razzak, Irfan Memon, Mustafin Sheikh Bhola, Hussain Kashmiri, Javed Sheikh Licensewala and Farooq Ansari were responsible for abetting his suicide. "My father was innocent. The continuous harassment forced him to end his life. The police should punish all those responsible for this," said Aslam. Anil Pofle, senior PI, said, "The six people whose names have been mentioned in the suicide notes have been booked under sections 306 and 34 of IPC."

2006
Year Mohammed moved to the SRA building with his family

2018
Year since when he started facing the allegations

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