Maharashtra: Four held in Ulhasnagar suicide investigation

The arrested accused being produced in court. Pic/Navneet Barhate

Hours after the brother of a suicide victim chopped off his own finger over alleged inaction from the police, the Thane Police Crime Branch on Saturday arrested four accused in connection with the case. On August 1, Nandkumar Nanaware and his wife Ujjwala died by suicide in their Ulhasnagar residence, after recording an over five-minute video clip, in which they named several people as responsible for suicide.

They sent the video to several prominent personalities as well as police officials before taking the extreme step and the police also recovered a suicide note from Nandkumar's trouser pocket. Nandkumar had formerly worked as Personal Assistant to Jyoti Kalani, the wife of Pappu Kalani, who is a political leader from Ulhasnagar.

The police had subsequently filed an FIR against one Sangram Nikalje and other unknown persons, charging them with section 306 (abetment to suicide) under the Indian Penal Code. Nandkumar's brother, Dhananjay, had appealed to the police top brass to transfer the case to the Crime Branch, and the probe was handed over to the Anti Extortion Cell on August 11. However, on Friday morning, Dhananjay had chopped off his own finger after seeing no progress in the investigation.

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On Saturday, the police arrested four accused, identified as Kamlesh Nikam, Shashikant Sathe, Ganapati Kamble and Naresh Gaikwad. "The accused were produced in the Ulhasnagar Court and have been remanded in police custody for five days" said a Thane Crime Branch officer. He added that Sathe is personal secretary to Dr. Balaji Kinikar, Member of Legislative Assembly from Ambarnath, while Nikam is a close associate of the Kalani family. Meanwhile, Dhananjay refused to undergo surgery to reattach his finger. "No action has been taken against the main accused as yet. I see no point in undergoing any surgery," he said.