Mumbai: Mob beats brothers, victims allege police negligence

Investigation by cops under scrutiny as victims speak out against shoddy FIR

On January 22, two brothers Dinesh and Chandrashekar Panchkale were brutally beaten by a mob in Oshiwara. Despite identifying their assailants, the victims, who were recently released from the hospital, claim that the police failed to include the attackers' identities in the First Information Report (FIR). Dinesh sustained serious injuries, including major skull fractures, whereas Chandrashekar managed to flee quickly, limiting his injuries to an arm fracture. The videos of the mob attacking the brothers have gone viral.

Shushma Panchkale, mother of Dinesh and Chandrashekar

Dinesh is also a local office bearer of the Shiv Sena Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray faction. He is associated with Shivsena Grahak Savrakshan Kaksha. The family members are concerned about his health as he has been experiencing memory loss and hearing problems since the incident. Chandrashekar said, "Even after we gave the police station the names of the attackers, they filed a FIR against unidentifiable individuals. The assault involved about 50 people; however, only five were caught by the Bangur Nagar police station."

Argument over cricket

While describing the incident, Chandrashekar said, "We (7 to 8 people) were playing cricket in Bangur Nagar. Around 4.30 pm, an individual came and stood on our cricket pitch. We requested him to move. The individual was reluctant to move and started abusing us. We had settled the matter among ourselves but till that time, others playing cricket had gathered at the location. They started threatening us, saying ‘Bat se maruga aur tu kuch nahi ukhad payega’ (you cannot do anything to us even if we beat you up with the cricket bat). The situation escalated, and the mob started attacking us. I ran swiftly and took shelter in a nearby building. Unfortunately, my brother Dinesh could not escape and was brutally beaten up."

Dinesh alleged that he was chased down by the mob on the road with bats and metal rods. However, luckily, a resident of the building he took shelter in helped him out to escape the situation. "He asked me to get inside his car and hide myself on the back seat to avoid being spotted by the mob. I escaped the situation and later came to know that my brother was severely injured and was taken to a nearby hospital resulting in registering the FIR. Initially, the police took my statement and produced the FIR copy but surprisingly, IPC 307 (attempt to murder) charges were not added to the FIR. The officer asked me to sign the FIR, but I did not sign it as I was demanding for section 307 to be added to the FIR." Dinesh added.

Chandrashekar had also written a letter to the DCP of zone 11 requesting to add the names of individuals to the FIR. The letter reads, "When my brother informed about this incident to the concerned police station, they registered an FIR No. 61 of 2024 and arrested 3 people related to the same. However, when I got to know about the people who are arrested as accused, I noticed that the said accused who are arrested are not involved in the crime. The CCTV footage at the premises where the incident occurred, clearly shows images of the offenders who were involved in the crime."

The letter mentions the names of 9 people who were involved in the crime stating, "The actual offenders who are involved in the crime and whose faces are seen in the CCTV footage are: Sohel Khan, Sunil Kanojiya, Saanu Sheikh, Alim Sheikh, Ahmad Manihar, Usman Khan, Mohsin Sheikh, Hashib Raini Urf (Alias) Pappu, Ismail Sheikh."

Speaking to mid-day, Chandrashekar’s mother Shushma said, "When Chandrashekar refused to sign the FIR, the police, at 3 am, came to the hospital. They were not in uniform making it very hard to identify. When I saw the officer enter the room, I followed him. To my surprise, the officer wanted to take Dinesh’s signature on the FIR copy when he was not even awake. When enquired, the officer said ‘We will just take the thumbprint of Dinesh on the FIR copy.’ I stopped them."

Police Speak

Pramod Tawade, senior PI, Bangur Nagar police station said, "Five individuals have been arrested in connection with the assault and the IPC section 307 has been included now in the FIR. We are actively identifying other suspects with the aid of CCTV footage installed near the incident site. Rest assured, appropriate action will be taken against anyone found to be culpable."

Adl CP Rajiv Jain told midday, “The crime detection cell is continuously trying to trace the other offenders but since they are not carrying a phone with them, it has become difficult to track them. We will arrests them soon.” When asked about initial exclusion of section 307, he said, “As soon as we recieved the medical reports, considering the sevirity of the injury, we added section 307.”

Jan 22
Day of the incident

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