After Landlord’s techie son, Sub-inspector accused of raping doctor arrested

Two suspects, including a deputy police inspector, were detained in connection with the suicide of a 29-year-old Satara doctor.

On Thursday, the doctor assigned to Phaltan Sub-District Hospital was found dead in his hotel room in Phaltan.

In his suicide note, he accused the second suspect, police inspector Gopal Badane, of sexual assault and the first suspect, Prashant Bankar, of mental harassment.

Bankar, the son of a software engineer and doctor’s landlord, was detained by police at a property near Pune on Friday night. However, according to Satara SP Tushar Doshi, Badane was arrested after he surrendered at Phaltan Rural Police Station.

According to the police, the doctor and Bankar were in a relationship before his death.

The issue sparked outrage in Maharashtra after the doctor’s suicide note surfaced.

According to officers aware of the matter, he also alleged in his complaints to the police administration that he was forced by the Satara police and a member of Parliament to falsify autopsy findings and medical records to facilitate the arrest of suspects in some cases.

Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday described the doctor’s demise as ‘extremely tragic’. Addressing the media in Mumbai, Fadnavis said, “Whoever is responsible will face strictest punishment. The police officers involved have already been suspended from duty. I urge the opposition not to politicize this sensitive issue.”

The deceased and Bankar had been close for several months, but their bond had soured in recent weeks, according to the inquest into the doctor’s death. “Their chats and call records show that she was very possessive and they argued frequently after Bankar started distancing herself from her,” a senior police official said.

According to Bankar’s sister, who requested anonymity, the two became close once again last month when Bankar was receiving medical attention for dengue fever. He called Bankar frequently the day before he committed suicide. “We gave the police screenshots of the emails and calls,” he said.

According to the police, Bankar’s father allegedly asked sub-inspector Badane to intervene following the clash.

The issue turned political after it emerged that the late doctor had claimed in an earlier report to a committee examining allegations of harassment that he had been encouraged by an MP’s personal assistants to “collaborate” on official duties.

Opposition leaders accused former BJP Madha MP Ranjitsinh Naik Nimbalkar of bullying him, even though the MP did not identify him. However, Naik denied the accusations, calling them “baseless allegations”.