19 June,2020 07:02 AM IST | Mumbai | Diwakar Sharma
Pankaj Singh Gosai. Pictures Courtesy/ Hanif Patel
Among the hundreds of people who come to the city with big Bollywood dreams was a Delhi-based mechanical engineer who arrived in Mumbai this year in the hope of making it big. However, in the seven months since his arrival, the man has been homeless, jailed and even beaten up after being mistaken for a thief. The engineer's roommate in the city, who had lured him to the city, became the reason for his plight, he said.
Pankaj Singh Gosai, a native of Uttarakhand, began working as a casting director in the city a few months ago and shared a room with Sachin Kumar, whom he had befriended on social media. Gosai left his job in Delhi to fulfil his dream job in the film industry. The duo stayed together in a rented apartment in Nalasopara but differences started cropping up between the two over monthly expenditures and maintenance of the flat.
By mid-March, Gosai was evicted by Kumar and he soon began living on a footpath when he was found by a team of Vasai Virar City Municipal Corporation (VVCMC) amid the lockdown. He was suffering from fever and was, therefore, rushed to a quarantine facility in Vasai from where he was later shifted to Virar.
Pankaj Singh Gosai's father Rajendra Giri
"He tested negative for COVID-19 and he was let go," a VVCMC official told mid-day.
Since Gosai had no house to go back to, he once again began living on the footpath and would eat what some do-gooders gave him. Very soon, Gosai's mental condition deteriorated too.
On June 10, as Gosai began feeling cold, he covered himself with a car cover on the footpath. "The local youth mistook him for a thief and thrashed him. A night patrolling team of Manikpur police station rescued Gosai and took him to the hospital," said Hoshyar Singh Dasoni, a member of a non-profit organisation, Samadhan Foundation.
"There were multiple bruises all over Gosai's body. His left hand was fractured. We tried to talk to him but his mental condition was unstable," said Dasoni's colleague Neeraj Adhikari.
The NGO took care of his clothing, food and accommodation till he recovered. "The best part is that he managed to recall his father's contact number. Gosai's father is a policeman in Uttarakhand. We asked him to reach Mumbai at the earliest," Dasoni said.
Pankaj Singh Gosai with the cops at Manikpur police station
Gosai's father Rajendra Giri is a constable at Udham Singh Nagar police station in Uttarakhand. He reached Vasai on June 16 and he took custody of his son in the presence of Manikpur police station.
"My son reached Mumbai nearly seven months ago after he was lured by someone to work in the film industry. I don't know what went wrong as he was not in touch for months. All my son's belongings are missing but thankfully I have managed to get his academic documents. We have not registered any case. I am thankful to the Manikpur police and the NGO who rescued my son," Giri told mid-day. He has returned to Uttarakhand with his son.
Inspector Rajendra Kamble of Manikpur police station
Inspector Rajendra Kamble of Manikpur police station said, "Gosai did not tell us anything nor has his father registered any complaint yet. If they want to file an FIR, they can definitely do so."
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