Trombay cops finally book woman, father in suicide abetment case

The Trombay police acting on the directions given by the Supreme Court last month have booked a woman and her father for abetting the suicide of 24yearold Deonar resident Manav Lalwani The FIR was filed on Tuesday almost two years after Manavrsquos suicideThe cops have booked both under Indian Penal Code Sections 306 abetment of suicide 201 disappearance of evidence and 34 common intention It took approximately eight hours to register the FIR after the authorities took down the statement of the deceasedrsquos father Prakash LalwaniThe Supreme Court on September 27 ordered the Trombay police to register an FIR against Mahima Thakur the woman friend of the deceased and her father Pravin Thakur Justices M M Sundresh and Sanjay Kumar however also directed the police not to arrest the duo and asked them to cooperate during the investigationManav LalwaniManav was running an electronic goods business founded by his father On December 2 2021 he hanged himself on the terrace of his bungalow at Green Acres The Lalwani family had been demanding a probe into the incident The family also suspected Mahima and Pravin ThakurAs the Trombay cops had registered an accidental death report ADR the Lalwanis approached the Kurla magistrate court but it turned down their request to file an FIR Subsequently the family knocked on the doors of the sessions court While the court directed the cops to file an FIR the order was stayed Hence the family went to the Supreme Court and filed a special leave petition in 2023The Lalwani family submitted the court order to the Trombay police on October 6 after which the cops called the family to register an FIR on Monday eveningAccording to the FIR Prakash Lalwani stated ldquoThere was some argument between Manav and Mahima and two of her friends at the gate of the society where both lived 45 days before his suicide Also a few hours before the death Manav had a fight with Mahima over some unknown reasons at the parking lot of the societyrdquoldquoWhen I came to know about the argument I downloaded the CCTV app used by society members to view the footage but I was shocked to see that the recordings of the entrance camera were there but footage of the CCTV camera in the parking lot from December 1 to 4 was deleted Only officebearers of the housing society have access to the CCTV app and password Pravin Thakur was the secretary at the timerdquoThe FIR also states that the last call made by Manav was to Mahima and after he had tied a rope around his neck he made a video call to someone He kept the phone in the front pocket of his trousers before hanging himself When Manavrsquos brother Sumair checked the phone he found that a lot of WhatsApp messages had been deletedRavindra Ranshevare senior inspector of Trombay police station said ldquoAs per the directives of the Supreme Court we have booked a woman and her father for abetting the suicide We will probe their role in connection with the incidentrdquo Prakash Lalwani expressed satisfaction over the registration of the Asked about the delay in filing the FIR on Monday night he refused to speak Sept 27Day SC passed order