Deepak Mankar remanded to Yerwada Central Jail

Sumit Singh

Pune – A special court on Friday remanded former deputy mayor and NCP corporator Deepak Mankar to magisterial custody, in connection with abetment of suicide of Jitendra Jagtap, brother of policeman Shailesh Jagtap, in a land dispute case.
Mankar will be now lodged in Yerwada Central Prison.

On July 23, Supreme Court had ordered Mankar to surrender before police within 10 days. Accordingly, he approached ACP Lashkar Division and surrendered on August 1. Soon after, police had also invoked charges under Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). A special court had remanded him to police custody. However he complained of chest pain when kept in the police lockup following which he was taken to Sassoon Hospital, where he was admitted.

According to police, Jitendra had committed suicide by jumping in front of a train between Ghorpadi and Hadapsar on June 2. He had left behind a note alleging that Mankar and builder Sudhir Karnataki were harassing him. They were harassing him over a money dispute related to a piece of land opposite Samarth police station.

According to case registered with Samarth police station, the land is owned by Mankar and Jagtap was the custodian. Jagtap was asking for payment of money for his services after Mankar wanted the land back. This had led to disputes between them, the police said.

As per the FIR, the accused persons were allegedly threatening Jagtap regarding the plot in Rasta Peth. After the police recovered a suicide note, Jagtap’s son Jayesh (26) lodged a case against the accused persons with Government Railway Police (GRP), which transferred the case to Samarth police station for further investigation.