Roque D’Souza says Vakola police detained him when he went to them for help to enter his house
Roque D’Souza outside his bungalow in Kalina on Tuesday night. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi
It is one struggle after the other for 63-year-old Roque D’Souza, who was lodged in jail since 2017 for allegedly murdering his wife Violet. He was acquitted by the Bombay High Court and released from jail on Tuesday. But, when he returned to his bungalow in Kalina, he found it had been taken over by the land mafia and he now has no place to go to. D’Souza said he called Vakola police station around 12:30 am, seeking help, but instead he was detained at the police station and released the next morning, and no case was filed.
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‘Forced to hand over keys’
D’Souza’s bungalow was taken over soon after his arrest in 2017. D'Souza and his sister-in-law Jacinta Mascerenhas, 59, alleged that ACP Kailash Avhad, who was posted as senior inspector of Vakola police at the time, forced her to handover keys of the Bungalow to D’Souza’s brother Joseph in front of Prem Chandran and Abid Ali Mushtaque Tanaji.
Roque D’Souza with police personnel outside his bungalow in Kalina. Pic/Sayyed Sameer Abedi
D’Souza in 2018, while in Arthur Road jail, found out that Joseph forged the documents and sold the property to Tanaji. He immediately registered a complaint and both Tanaji and Premchand were arrested in the case by Vakola police and were later released on bail. While Tanaji still has the custody of the bungalow and Joseph is absconding.
D'Souza told mid-day, “I was arrested in July 2017 from my bungalow for allegedly murdering my wife. But I did not kill my wife. I had left home after a fight with her and returned to find her dead. I was falsely implicated in the case. After this, the then Vakola police senior inspector (Avhad) forced my sister-in-law to hand over the keys to a local goon, taking over my house.”
‘Cops detained me’
After being released, D’Souza headed back home after over four year and found a security guard guarding the door to his bungalow. As the security guard denied him entry, he called the police helpline. A police team reached the spot and enquired with the security guard, who then called Tanaji. Cops took both D’Souza and Tanaji to the police station to record their statement.
However, D’Souza alleged that while Tanaji, the accused, was released early in the morning for attending namaz, cops detained him till Wednesday morning and it was only after his lawyer approached the cops that he was released. “I have lost both my wife and property, and am on the road now. Instead of helping me get back my bunglow, cops detained me. I didn’t even enter my own bungalow and called the police for help. I have lost trust in the police,” D'Souza said.
Cop Speak
“We have not detained Roque D’Souza. D’Souza went to the bunglow at Kalina and called us. It was possible that a fight could take place between them, so we took them to the police station to avoid any untowards incident. We recorded their statements at the police station. We have not registered any case yet. We have started our probe and are checking their previous cases. We will take action after the probe,” said senior PI Sunanya Nate of Vakola police station.
Lawyer Speak
Advocate Prashant Pandey for D’Souza told mid-day, “While D'Souza was in jail in 2018, Abid Ali Mushtaq Tanaji and PK Chandran with the help of Senior Police Inspector Avhad threatened his sister-in-law and took possession of the bungalow. After we filed a case in January 2019, both were arrested and later released on bail. However, Tanaji re-entered the premises and took it over which is a breach of his bail condition.”
“My client now has nowhere to go. I hope the police register his complaint. I also wrote a letter to the DG to take serious action against Senior PI Sunanya Subodh Nate for detaining my client,” he added.
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