NRI death case: Business partner booked for abetting suicide

Friday, 07/09/2012

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/NRI-death-case-Business-partner-booked-for-abetting-suicide/articleshow/16288798.cms

MUMBAI: More than six months after a 34-year-old NRI ended his life in the city and the police closed the case as one of accidental death, it has sprung back to life on the orders of the Bombay high court as one of abetment.

Though Manish Malhotra, co-owner of a successful event management firm, had said twice in an email before his death that his business partner Renu Sharma (name changed) must not be blamed for his "cowardly" action, his family wants a more thorough probe, insinuating that Manish's actions were a "direct consequence of her (Renu's) harsh attitude and cold-heartedness". 

On February 19 this year, Manish met Renu over dinner and then sent her a text message around 1.40am, asking her to check her email after 20 minutes. In the mail, he mentioned his affection for her and his decision to end his life. He then consumed cyanide that he had bought on the internet. Renu, who saw the mail only the next morning, rushed to Manish's Amboli house, where he was found unconscious. He died in hospital. 

The high court berated the Amboli police and ordered a fresh FIR based on a detailed letter from Manish's uncle. Criticizing the explanation for closing the case even before getting a report from the forensic lab, it said it "reinforced" the uncle's apprehension that "the whole matter has been delayed by the local police to benefit the accused". The court also moved the case to the crime branch under its monitoring. 

Earlier this week, the Amboli police registered a case of abetment to suicide and cheating against Renu. 

No foul play had been suspected when Manish died and police registered an accidental death report (ADR). But nine days later, Manish's maternal uncle, Navin Kumar, who was in Kolkata then, wrote on behalf of Manish's Australia-based family to Mumbai police, seeking a more thorough probe into the "suspicious circumstances" of the death. 

He claimed that Manish was in love with Renu and had planned to spend Valentine's Day (February 14) with her in Maldives. He felt "cheated" on finding out that she had made plans to spend the occasion with another man. 

"Renu was the last person with whom Manish had interacted. They had an affair, but afterwards she developed relations with another man," said Kumar's advocate S Kunjuraman. 

The police investigated the case for about a month, but came up with nothing. Kumar then shifted to Mumbai and moved the high court on April 30. After the HC took up his petition, the police revealed that they had closed the case though a report was still awaited from the forensic laboratory. At the court's prodding, the report came on August 16. Nine days later, the police filed an FIR. 

"It is not clear as to what prevented the police officer from registering an FIR on the basis of the written complaint dated February 29, 2012, which was exhaustive, instead of a truncated FIR now registered on August 25," said the judges, directing that it be treated as erased from the records and a fresh registered. 

The court also felt that the "peculiar circumstances of the case" called for an independent probe and handed it over to an officer not below the rank of ACP in the crime branch. It also said it would supervise the case progress and posted the matter to September 24. 

Renu's lawyer, Ashok Saraogi, said: "The entire blame is being put on her merely because Manish had a one-sided affair with her. Even if it were true, it does not mean that she cannot opt for a better option."