Murder angle being probed in cop ‘suicide’

Eight months after a police constable was found dead, the Vasai police has added a section of murder in the FIR.

When Vinod Kashinath Pardhi’s body was found on February 6 in Panju Khadi, officials believed that he had died due to drowning. The constable was facing charges of harassing a woman constable and his relatives had alleged that she could be behind the ‘murder’. The police also discovered that the detailed post-mortem report of the constable revealed he had suffered injuries.

A second opinion was taken from hospital and the accidental death case got converted in to the murder. Confirming the incident, Prashant Kadam, additional SP, Thane Rural, told The Asian Age, “As the reason was not certain in the case, it was always a accidental death case. After getting the autopsy report and carrying out another chemical analysis test we came to know that it was not a natural death so we registered a murder case. Doctors informed us that Pardhi had suffered a heavy injury, and died due to it, so we are probing this. All the other angles will be investigated too.”

Mr Kadam said, “We had booked a case against an unknown accused under sections 302 and 201 of the IPC for murder and causing disappearance of evidence of offence, or giving false information to screen offender respectively.”

Speaking about Pardhi’s suspension, a senior official said a woman police officer had filed a complaint against him for passing lewd comments at her, along with threatening and abusing her.

Accordingly, Pardhi was suspended on January 25 and an investigation was ordered against him. After his death his family had claimed that Pardhi had committed suicide because he was upset with the police investigation against him.