22 June,2009 09:48 AM IST | | Subroto Roy
For three years, members of the Prabhu family have been fighting against Deepak and Shivaji Mankar to safeguard their home even as local cops allegedly turn a blind eye to their plight
Even as the police continue to hunt for former Congress party member Deepak Mankar and his brother Shivaji in the Natu landgrabbing case, MiD DAY discovered a family that has been at the receiving end of harassment by the Mankars for some time now. For the past three years, the Prabhu family, living in Mukundanand bungalow on Fergusson College Road, has been braving the Mankars' assaults while police officialsu00a0 turned a blind eye to the family's plight.
According to Purnima, a member of the Prabhu family, the Prabhus have been tenants of Mukundanand since 1962.
However, three years ago, Shivaji bought the bungalow and since then, he and Deepak have been scare the family into moving out.u00a0
Purnima, her 74-year-old mother Leena, her two sisters Shobha and Sonia, her brother Rajiv and his wife Deepa, have braved the Mankars' torture without any support from any authority.
On December 29, 2008, Shivaji's henchmen forcefully evacuated them from one part of the bungalow. Purnima's brother Rajiv was assaulted and suffered a brain haemorrhage. Initially, the police refused to file an FIR and turned against the women.
After a lot of persuasion, they filed a complaint, but only of assault. "This, when it was clearly a case of half murder," said Purnima.
According to Purnima, instead of helping them, the Shivaji Nagar police "proactively" registered a false criminal complaint lodged by the Mankars against the Prabhus. "The Sessions Court did not grant us anticipatory bail, but we moved the High Court and got it on April 3," said Purnima. The High Court also stated that the complaint against the Prabhus was clearly a false one. The Prabhus have now filed a writ petition in the High Court which not only names the Mankars but also the police commissioner, his staff, the state government and one of their neighbours as being party to their torture. When questioned, Inspector Maya Mankar said, "We have sealed the part of the property in dispute. We have taken action on both the parties and arrested five people from each side." Sub-inspector Sandeep Ghor-pade said, "We have not committed any excess."
