Thane: A 40-year-old man from Kalyan, who had stepped out of his home on his bicycle to buy some essential supplies, died allegedly after falling into a gutter in the Bandarpada area of Shahad on Thursday morning.
The police scotched initial reports that he fell into a gutter after being attacked by local residents who suspected he was a COVID-19 patient. The Khadakpada police have registered an Accidental Death Report and are awaited his postmortem report. Further investigations are underway, the police said.
According to the police, the incident took place at the Bandarpada area at around 10.30 AM on Thursday, when the deceased, identified as Ganesh Gupta, had stepped out of his home with his own bicycle to purchase some essentials. Gupta resided in Bandarpada with his wife and two daughters, and ran a tea stall in Ambernath city.
According to some local residents, who did not wish to be identified, Gupta halted his bicycle near a house and sat down as he was feeling uneasy. They claimed that a resident of the area asked Gupta why he was sitting there, and allegedly called out to another man.
Gupta immediately left on his bicycle, following which he fell into a gutter. Ashok Pawar, senior police inspector from Khadakpada police station said, "Some reports, that a few men suspected him of being a COVID-19 patient and attacked him, causing him to fall into a gutter and die, are completely false.
We have registered an Accidental Death Report (ADR). We have checked the CCTV footage from the area, and the footage shows that there was no such incident of assault had taken place. The post mortem report is awaited".
Pawar added that while Gupta had indeed fallen into a gutter, he managed to pull himself out of the gutter. A resident of the area, on noticing his dirty condition, called his family and later bathed him with water.
He was then taken to Rukmani hospital, where he died before admission. Police said that Gupta had suffered internal head injuries. Ganesh Kot, local corporator from Bandarpada area in Shahad, said, "We have checked footage from the CCTV cameras installed in the area, but there is no footage of Gupta being assaulted.
The footage shows that Gupta was seated near a house, and that a short while later, he seemed to leave the spot in a hurry. The dead body will be sent to JJ hospital for a post mortem on Saturday to determine the cause of death".
