Bid to impress boss lands 60-year-old in jail

He asked a friend to call and message the woman to harass her, so he could then show his loyalty and help her with the probe and save himself from being sidelined at work.

Trying to impress his employer to secure his job proved costly for a senior citizen. The Crime Branch Unit 2 arrested him for asking his friend to call and abuse his boss. Naushad Patel had thought he could help her with the investigations to demonstrate his loyalty. On December 26, a 45-year-old founder of an NGO and a member of a Mohalla Committee, lodged a complaint with VP Road police, claiming she was receiving harassing calls from an unknown number. "The person called the woman a sex worker. After she stopped receiving calls, she received text messages from the same number," said an officer.

Unit 2 in-charge Inspector Sanjay Nikumbe, Assistant Police Inspector Santosh Salunkhe, Sub-Inspector Atish Lohkare and Constable Hridaynarayan Mishra began the probe. "Patel, her secretary, seemed over-enthusiastic. He kept telling us to find the culprit as soon as possible. We found this strange," said an officer.

The SIM in question belonged to a priest in Girgaum, but he told cops he didn't know about the calls and messages. The priest said he had lent the SIM card to Patel. When officers interrogated Patel, they found he had asked his friend, Mohammad Anwar Mohammed Isaq Sheikh, 57, to make the calls.

"The accused was a trusted aide of the complainant, but he wanted to prove he was more efficient. So he asked his friend to make some calls to him too and accompanied the complainant to the police station, claiming he too received calls from the unknown person making abusive remarks about her," said Inspector Nikumbe. "The accused felt if he doesn't prove he is a worthy employee, he might get sidelined due to his advancing age."

Patel and Sheikh are childhood friends. Police aid Patel had told Sheikh his employer was torturing him and had to be taught a lesson. The Crime Branch arrested both on December 30 and handed them to the VP Road police. On Tuesday they arrested the vendor, Sunil Kumar Bind, 22, for selling the SIM card without proper documents and the priest, Pandit Goswami, 50.

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