Mockery of justice, says gangster Naresh Chaddi’s brother over second closure report

Naresh Chaddi was found dead in his rented flat in Kalyan in 2016

Two different investigating officers of the Thane police, probing the mysterious death of gangster Naresh Chaddi, have conflicting observations in their closure reports filed in a Kalyan court, prompting Chaddi's kin to call it a mockery of justice. One officer filed a C-summary and the other an A-summary report. "The first investigating officer believes it was a case of accidental death and the new IO believes my brother was killed but the evidence is not traceable or the accused are not found. What a joke?" said Chaddi's brother Raju Pahalajani.

The previous investigating officer, ACP Anil Powar of the Kalyan division, had filed a C-summary report, citing ‘accidental death', in October 2020. A C-summary report is filed when the case is ‘neither true nor false'. Following a petition by Chaddi's brother, the court had directed the Thane police to re-investigate the case in December 2020. ACP JD More of Dombivli division took over but filed the A-summary report - when an offence is made out but the evidence is untraceable or the accused are not found.

"How can the police say that the evidence is not found? What all efforts have been made by the cops to collect evidence? There is a voice recording in which Godhumal Kishnani is audaciously saying how he got Naresh Chaddi killed… Why is the investigating officer not collecting the voice sample for forensic analysis?" Raju demanded to know. "Also, on what grounds did ACP More say that the accused are not found? The names of the accused are mentioned in the FIR. Has the Thane police ever dared to arrest Kishnani, his son and their accomplice?" Raju asked.

"The Thane police have not even filed a charge sheet in the case but both the investigating officers were quick to submit their summary reports," Raju said, accusing the officers of trying to mislead the court. "Is the Thane police drawing a monthly salary only to safeguard criminals? Why are senior police officers turning a blind eye in the case?" Chaddi, a former associate of gangster-turned-politician Pappu Kalani, was found dead inside his rented flat at Sai Paradise building in Kalyan in February 2016. Khadakpada police filed an accidental death report despite his family insisting that it was murder and squarely blaming Kishnanis and Valecha for it.

In December 2019, the Directorate of Forensic Science and Laboratory said in a report that Chaddi had died of "asphyxia" with "contusions and abrasions over body (unnatural)". An FIR against the Kishnanis and Valecha was registered only after mid-day front-paged the case in February 2020. Advocate Ganesh Gholap, the counsel for Raju, said, "The Thane police are incapable of solving the case. We have filed a written argument in connection with the A-summary report before the court and are waiting for a reply." Raju said they have sought the transfer of the case as Thane cops are trying to "shield" the accused.

Gholap has raised 21 points to reject the A-summary report. Raju said he will move the high court to seek justice for his brother. When mid-day apprised Thane police commissioner Jai Jeet Singh of the development in the case, he said, "I can comment only after perusing the papers…have asked for them." But Singh did not respond to mid-day's messages and calls thereafter.