When the family of a 21-year-old man, who had gone missing, came up against abject police apathy, they decided to play sleuths themselves
Nitin Bhagat
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When the family of a 21-year-old man, who had gone missing, came up against abject police apathy, they decided to play sleuths themselves. The next day, with just one clue to help them, the family traced the youth's body to Vasai beach.
The youth, identified as Nitin Bhagat, a resident of Gopchar Pada in Virar East, who worked as recovery agent, had gone missing on Sunday. The Vasai Gaon Police have now filed an ADR and have said they have started an investigation into the death.
Police sources said that on Sunday, Nitin was on an assignment, recovering money from money lenders in Arnala, and at 5.30 pm, he called home to inform that he was done for the day and would return soon. With no sign of him even at 6.30 pm, his family members called him up, but his phone was switched off. They then reached the Arnala police station to file a missing person complaint, but on-duty police officers allegedly refused to take it down. The next morning (Monday) the family went to the police station again, where they were told that the youth's last mobile location had been traced to Vasai. His family and relatives decided to not wait for the police investigation and went searching for him themselves. They reached the beach and scoured the length of it before finally finding his two-wheeler, and in it, vouchers worth Rs 80,000, with the last voucher of Rs 1,600 collected from Arnala. A little ahead of his scooter, near Vasai beach, they found his body.
Nitin Bhagat's body was found by his relatives on Vasai beach. Pics/Hanif Patel
His cousin Harish said, "He had a serious head injury. We suspect he was murdered, and want a proper investigation. Hence, we have demanded that the post-mortem be done at JJ hospital."
"We have filed an ADR and are waiting for the post-mortem report to know the cause of death. It's not yet clear whether it is a suicide, murder or accident," said a police officer.
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