‘Will quit the force if I don’t get justice’, says cop who lost 2 sons in Palm Beach accident

The Mercedes allegedly driven by accused Rohan Abbott at the time of the accident

Days after he lost two sons in a hit-and-run case involving a Mercedes car, a head constable from Tilak Nagar said he has completely lost faith in the police and was contemplating quitting the force for letting him down. "I don't trust my own department as they took more than 30 hours to arrest the Mercedes driver only to release him on bail. I will leave the department as I have not got justice for my sons," said Anil Gamre, who lives at Dutt Niwas Society in Vashi Gaon.

A family picture of constable Anil Gamre

Gamre's sons Akshay, 28, and Sanket, 24, were returning home from a party when a Mercedes car driven allegedly by Rohan Sunil Abbott, the son of a well-known hotelier from Navi Mumbai, hit their bike on Palm Beach road and dragged them for about 200 metres. Abbott fled the scene, it was alleged. The vehicle was moving at 150 kmph at the time, the police said.

Still in shock, Gamre said, "We suspect that the accused was drunk and the police helped him escape. Alcohol remains in the body at most for 12 hours. The police have CCTVs, cars and all the evidence, but there was a delay in investigation and arrest."

Sanket had given his BCom exams recently and was planning to join the police department

His wife Malati said, "Does it take so much of time when you have the vehicle with you? I can't believe that cops nowadays need so many hours to trace the owner of a vehicle."

Gamre said Sanket had appeared for the BCom exam recently and was planning to join the police department. He said he is shattered after the deaths of his sons and his experience with his department.

Akshay was working as a manager with a share trading firm in Goregaon

Sharing the details of the accident, he told mid-day, "On the night of the incident I was at home. I got a call from APMC police station at 4.30am. They told me Akshay had met with an accident and asked me to come to the police station. Malati and I rushed there."

Gamre said the cops took him to the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation hospital at Vashi. "The officer directly took me to the mortuary room. I told my wife to wait outside. As I entered the morgue, they took out Akshay's body. Suddenly, they pulled out another body and it was Sanket. Both the bodies were disfigured; I believe every bone of their body must have been broken. I just slumped to the floor," he said.

A hotel owned by the family of the accused

Akshay was a manager at a share trading company in Goregaon. The couple has a third son. "Sanket and Akshay were strong pillars of my life. Our other son Samir works for an MNC in Bangalore. As the elder brother had touched 28, we had started searching for a match for him. We had decided to get him married this year only, but this accident has changed our life forever," said an inconsolable Malati.

The incident
Around 1.35 am on February 7, the Gamre brothers were coming from K. Star hotel Road when a white Mercedes rammed into their bike. As the two lay on the road crying for help, the man at the wheel allegedly ran away. Later, the police took them to NMMC Hospital where both were declared dead on arrival.

Accused Rohan Abbott is the son of a prominent hotelier from Navi Mumbai

Cops found the Merc with registration number MH-46-AB-4023 at the spot. They said it was registered in the name of a Panvel resident, who sold it to Rohan Abbott.

Abbott was arrested on Monday morning. A Belapur court granted him bail. "We argued for police custody but we couldn't get it," said a senior police officer.

‘Blood samples collected'
Suresh Mengde, DCP (Zone 1), Navi Mumbai, said they have taken blood samples of the accused and are awaiting the result. On the allegation of the delay in tracing him, Mengde said, "We had to cross-check the details of the vehicle and then found it was registered in some other person's name. We finally got hold of the accused. There is no delay in the process, we will make a watertight case."

Reacting to the hit and run case, Maharashtra Home Minister Anil Deshmukh said, "A police officer lost his two children in an unfortunate accident that took place at Navi Mumbai. Police have been instructed to investigate the crime thoroughly & submit a charge sheet to the court with evidence. The DCP has been ordered to oversee the investigation himself."