Khar land shark absconding: Cops

The Khar police who registered an FIR against the land shark and his woman accomplice after middayrsquos exposeacute in lsquoThe old and the vulnerablersquo series is set to widen its probe in the multicrore land usurping case The investigating team suspects the involvement of Thane Mental Hospital TMH staff in helping the land shark Clarence Pereira alias Peter and his accomplices exploited loopholes to get the ailing bungalow owner Marietta Fernandes dischargedThe 54yearold Fernandes was admitted to a mental asylum on November 27 2020 after she was found with the decomposed body of her mother Yvonne in the said bungalow at Chuim village in Khar west On April 29 2021 she was taken out of the asylum by Pereira and his accomplices midday had reported that the role of the Asylum was under the scannerMarietta Fernandes has claimed she was kept hostage at a rented house of Pereiras accomplice Nilima Deshmukh in Andheri where she was assaulted and beaten upDuring these five months sources said Pereira met Dr Sanjay Bodade medical superintendent of Thane Mental Hospital on many occasions midday had earlier reported that Pereiras daughter Rachael alias Preeti had said that lsquoDr Bodade is good friend of her fatherrsquoMedical Superintendent not presentldquoFirst of all I am not his Pereiras friend I speak Konkani and met him hardly once or twice Secondly I was on leave on the day April 29 Marietta was discharged from the hospital as I had tested positive The charge of Medical Superintendent of Thane Mental Hospital was given to Makrand Patil who is a class one anestheticrdquo said Dr Bodade who has now been transferred to Palghar district as a Civil SurgeonAfter the land grabbing matter was highlighted in the series of midday reports sources at Khar police said Pereira moved court to seek legal respite ldquoAfter we recorded the statement of Marietta Pereira moved court to seek anticipatory bail but that time the FIR was not registeredrdquo said a senior police officerPereira managed to get relief from the court and the cops cannot arrest him for 72 hours after the registration of FIR ldquoWe have served a notice but he was not available at the house when our team visited He will be arrested after 72 hours for surerdquo said the police officerAccused arrived with wife and son in towImpersonating Mariettarsquos uncle Pereira had got her discharged from TMH Marietta said his Pereiras wife Nancy and son Rafael had also come to TMH on April 29 2021 to get her dischargedA senior police officer said ldquoWe will record the statements of all those including mental hospital staff who were present at the mental asylum when Marietta was discharged We will investigate how she was handed over to persons who are not even her relativesAfter getting her discharged from the hospital Pereira took her to Khar police station almost a month later ie on May 22 and submitted an application to get the bungalowrsquos keys After three days PSI Tanaji Kolthe handed over the keys to Marietta in the presence of Pereira who took her to Chuim village on pretext of getting her ancestral property cleanedldquoIn her statement she said that on pretext of getting her bungalow cleaned Pereira Nilima Deshmukh and others stole her expensive belongings worth R20 lakh We are probing who helped Pereira and others in thisrdquo said another police officerKhar police are also trying to get the CCTV footage of nearby areas where Mariettarsquos ancestral property is located in Chuim village to lsquofind who helped the accused in transporting the expensive belongingsrsquoAfter being discharged from mental hospital Marietta said she was kept hostage at a rented house of Pereirarsquos accomplice Nilima Deshmukh in Andheri where she was assaulted and beaten upAnother officer in the investigating team told midday ldquoWe will take the details of each day from Marietta to understand how badly she was harassed It seems it was a planned move to usurp her property So we need to find out who hatched this plan and since when they were conspiring The role of Pereiras wife and their children will also be verifiedA senior police officer said ldquoIf needed sections will be added to the FIR and if the role of others is found they will be made coaccusedrdquoAccusedrsquos wife peeps outmidday has learnt that after registering an FIR a team from Khar police station visited the bungalow on Monday night Preeti peeped from inside but didnrsquot open the safety door She didnt allow the police to enter the bungalow said a sourceldquoWhen police asked the whereabouts of Marietta Fernandes she replied lsquoMarietta is not in Mumbai and she is in Goa on vacationrsquo When police asked who are in the bungalow she replied lsquoMy male friend is with her we are Mariettarsquos family membersrsquordquo police sources told middayPereira was not at the bungalow when cops visited there on Monday night said the source