'He didn't tell me first wife was harrasing him'

Says wife of cop who shot himself inside a police station yesterday; suicide note said first wife and her brothers were after his money

Yesterday morning, PI Shivaji Patil (56) of Borivli police station, shot himself inside the changing room of the police station with his service revolver. Patil was being harassed for money by his first wife, and that could be the reason why he committed suicide, the police said.

Speaking to MiD DAY, Patil's second wife Pratibha said, "I was not aware of his first marriage when I got married. I found out, several years later, because he always looked tense whenever he was home. He asked me not to tell the children, since it would complicate their lives -- one of my daughters is married and another is an MBA student, and my son is an engineer in the US."

"He only told me about the marriage. But it was only after his death that I came to know that his first wife was harassing him for money."

According to the police, Patil seemed normal when he was on duty, and went to the changing room when his night shift was over. Within seconds, the guard on duty heard gunfire from the room, and found that Patil had shot himself in the head. He was rushed to Bhagwati Hospital where he was declared dead.

"Nirmala (the first wife) was demanding money from him. Even after he paid up, she demanded more money and sent notices to him through her lawyer," said Bhagwan Chate, senior PI, Borivli police station.

"After reading one such notice, he got depressed and committed suicide," Chate added.

The police have arrested all the three persons named in the suicide note -- Nirmala and her brothers Baban Desai and Dutta Desai, under IPC sections 306, 384, and 387, 34 (abetment to suicide and extortion). The three will be produced at Borivli metropolitan court today.

The suicide note

According to his suicide note, Patil married a woman named Nirmala Desai in 1978.

"I left Nirmala with her permission, and in 1982 I got married to Pratibha Patil. Until 2006, everything was fine, but after that Nirmala and her brothers Baban and Dutta started demanding money from me. I gave them around Rs 8 lakh in the last four years.

But they got greedy, and in the last four months, started demanding Rs 10 lakh, and threatened to expose my first marriage and spoil my professional reputation. I am committing suicide because of Nirmala and her brothers.
I appeal to the police to take necessary and strict action against them after my death.
Yours,
PI Shivaji Patil