Mumbai: Constable who claimed he was poisoned by gang, dies of alcoholism

Constable Vishal Pawar was reportedly depressed and an alcoholic

Chronic alcoholism derailed his life, said a Government Railway Police officer who is investigating the case of the death of constable Vishal Pawar. The officials claim he had even sold his gold ring to buy alcohol before his death.

The matter came to light on April 29, when Thane's Kopri police station recorded Pawar's statement, where he said that on the night of April 28, some members of the ‘Fatka gang' had injected some poisonous substance into him and had robbed him of his phone.

The case was transferred to the Dadar Government Railway Police, and further investigation revealed that he had cooked up the story. After a week-long investigation, the cops now suspect that Pawar cooked up the story to stay away from work on the day he had excessive alcohol.

According to the investigaton, Pawar had undergone treatment for his liver ailment two months ago and was not in a good state of mind as his wife did not live with him and had undergone an abortion.

"Preliminary medical reports have stated that Pawar was heavily drunk and had jaundice. We await the post-mortem reports to ascertain the cause of death. He had liver ailments due to excessive drinking. He even sold his ring to buy alcohol before his death," said an officer.

Vishal Pawar worked at the Worli Police Headquarters. "Due to his liver ailments he got holidays whenever he wanted," said an officer.

Pawar had been in the police department since 2015. "On April 27, he was drinking hooch in a bar and was not present for his duty. He drank alcohol in a bar in Dadar and then went on the tracks, till Parel, and slept there. On April 28, he went home to Thane," said an officer.

"He then called his relative, drank even more, and ate an omelet. His condition got so bad that he was admitted to the hospital and eventually breathed his last. We checked his financial transaction history and found out that he spent most of his money on alcohol. When he had gone to drink hooch before his death, he had offered his ring to pay as he had no money. The bar money refused to take the ring, and hence he went to a jewellery shop and sold it," the officer added.

The Dadar GRP is yet to establish the exact cause of why Pawar gave a false statement to the Kopri police and are awaiting the postmortem reports to ascertain the cause of death.