Cop dies after getting attacked by bike thief

Head constable of Gamdevi police station, Sunil Dattatray Kadam, 52, who was injured lst week while trying to escort a vehicle thief to the police station, died on Saturday after eight days of hospitalisation. Additional commissioner of police, south region, Pravin Padwal, confirmed the development.

Kadam suffered injuries on his head, neck and legs after falling off the accused’s bike during a nakabandi at Pedder Road. He was admitted to Nair hospital, and later transferred to Bombay hospital, where he was unconscious for a long period of time.

“Eventually, he regained consciousness and even spoke to his family member. But he would get emotional when anybody from the police department visited him, so his colleagues avoided visiting him,” said Anup Dange, inspector, Gamdevi police station.

Pravin Padwal, additional CP (commissioner of police), south region, and Gyanesh Chavan, zonal DCP (deputy commissioner of police) personally supervised the treatment, spoke to doctors and posted a constable to look after Kadam full-time. “He started recovering, but then his condition deteriorated and he breathed his last at around 11am on Saturday,” Dange added.

Kadam resided in the Worli police camp with his wife, daughter, and son. He has another daughter, who is married to a banker. Nandkumar Shevale, a constable at Gamdevi station, said, “Kadam was fondly called ‘Aau Kadam’ by his colleagues. He had served the police department for over 28 years. He had done great work in the detection team, crime branch, and social service branch. His kids are young and he was the only earning member of the family. The tragedy has left us and his family in a shock.”

The incident

On May 11, head constable of Gamdevi police station Sunil Kadam was posted on the south-bound stretch at the Cadbury junction, Pedder Road for a nakabandi. Kadam and three other cops stopped three people on a bike. One of the digits on the bike’s number plate was missing. Kadam inquired about the number plate and asked for the rider’s driving licence. After failing to give a satisfactory response, two of the three men fled the spot. Kadam then sat pillion on the rider, Sirajuddin Shaikh’s bike, and asked him to ride to the police station.

Shaikh took a U-turn from the junction and increased the speed of the bike in the hope that Kadam would lose balance and fall off the bike. He was simultaneously punching Kadam with one hand. Kadam screamed for help, which caught the attention of the other cops, who began to chase Shaikh’s bike in a police van. Eventually, the bike crashed into a marble-concrete bench on a footpath in the area, causing both of them to fall off the bike. Kadam and Shaikh were both rushed to the hospital. Kadam was discharged on Thursday and arrested under the charge of attempt to murder.

Family seeks stringent punishment for accused

Sunil Kadam’s colleagues at Gamdevi police station will remember him as a jovial person who always used to be ready to help others. A 1985-batch head constable, Kadam had spent 33 years with the force before succumbing to the head injuries suffered while he was trying to escort a history sheeter to the police station.

“He was a man who would keep everyone entertained on and off duty. He would socialise with everyone and had a very good sense of humour,” said a head constable from the police station.

“I was at the nakabandi when the incident took place. Kadam as usual was doing his duty diligently when we stopped the accused. After the incident when we checked, the accused had cases against them in Vikhroli police station,” said another officer.

The deceased constable’s eldest daughter Chetana told Hindustan Times, “The government hospital where my father was taken did not tell us about the head injury for five days. We got to know about it after we shifted him to Bombay hospital. I believe that my father would have been alive today if the police would have rushed him to an empanelled private hospital rather than the government hospital.”

I want the police to thoroughly probe the case, and we want stringent punishment for the accused in the case. My family has suffered a lot. It is an irreparable damage. It will be difficult for our family to move on,” added Chetana.