Virar cops trying cover up on school’s behest, claims victim’s constable father

A screen shot of CCTV footage that shows Siddhi (in white, in box). Pics/Hanif Patel

A constable attached to the Local Arms Unit of Mumbai police, whose 19-year-old daughter died in a freak accident on Tuesday morning, has alleged that the Virar police did a shoddy investigation to weaken the case. "If they can't ensure justice for their own men, what is the point of wearing the khaki," said Constable Anil Phutane.

Siddhi Phutane, a resident of Virar West and a college student, had just dropped her brother Om, 10, at the Narshin Govind Vartak School in Virar West where he studies. The school had organised a picnic at Kidzania in Ghatkopar.

Around 7.30 am, when the school bus was moving out from the school gate, Siddhi got trapped between the bus and the compound wall of the school. "The police in their FIR have claimed that she was taking a selfie with her brother who was seated near the window. This is an utter lie. My daughter is not a social media addict. We have never seen her taking selfies or videos for her accounts. She was a simple girl," said Phutane.

A windowpane that broke after the collision

Phutane added, "The Virar police have blindly taken the details provided by the school authorities and the staff. They should have verified the facts before registering an offence."

Father found CCTV footage

According to Phutane, he did what the cops should have ideally done. He retrieved CCTV camera footage to ascertain the facts. Phutane claims that the Virar police were attempting a cover-up at the behest of the school authorities.

A windowpane that broke after the collision

"From the CCTV camera footage, it is evident that my daughter did not have a phone in her hand at the time of the accident. The phone was in her pocket. The police tried to build a case based on a blatant lie. It is purely a case of negligence on the part of the driver. Even the compound wall of the school was damaged by the impact," Phutane said.

Following the incident though, the Virar police have registered a case of death due to negligence against the bus driver and have arrested him. "I need justice for my daughter's death. The school and the driver should be held accountable for this kind of negligence," Phutane added.

We arrested driver: Police

Police Sub-Inspector (PSI) Sanjay Chavan of Virar police said, "I registered the FIR and also arrested the accused bus driver for negligence while driving. We have received the information from the school teachers. All the teachers said that the girl was taking selfies near the bus with her brother. We are checking the CCTV camera footage and an officer has been deployed for the investigation of this case."