Virar family loses two sons in two months, blames cops

Amit Jha died at a Dadar hospital

A little over two mo­nths after his younger brother committed suicide, a 27-year-old Virar resi­d­ent has ended his life by consuming poison. Amit Jha's brother, Vikas, 23, had immolated himself outside the Vasai office of the deputy superintendent of police (DySP) in November citing "harassment by cops".

Significantly, Amit uploaded a video on social media before committing suicide in which he blamed police inaction for his drastic step. In the video, he says, "In my bid to get justice for my brother, I met senior officers, including the Palghar SP, DySP, and Vasai sub-divisional police officer, over the last two months. All I wanted if for them to act against local politician Munaf Baluch and Virar police senior inspector Yunus Shaikh for provoking my brother to commit suicide. But, I have been left disappointed at their apathy. I don't think I will ever manage to get justice for my brother, so I am going to my brother."

Speaking to mid-day, his father, Vinay­kant Jha, said, "This weekend Amit retur­n­ed home looking haggard and after some time, his nose started bleeding. We rushed him to Sanjivani hospital, from where we were referred to KEM hospital. All ICU beds at the KEM were occupied, so, we headed to a Dadar hospital. But, we couldn't save him."

Vinay blamed Baluch and Shaikh for the deaths of both his sons. He alleged, "Palghar district SP Manjunath Shringe ensured that the accused didn't get arrested. Only if the culprits had been arrested, at least one of my sons would have been alive."

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