Ghatkopar manhole death: Almost a month on, still no clues

It is almost a month since the mysterious death of Ghatkopar resident Sheetal Bhanushali, but neither the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) nor the Mumbai police have been able to find what led to it. The police have also not yet filed an FIR in the case.

Bhanushali, 32, who lived in Ashapura Society at Asalfa Village in Ghatkopar West, allegedly fell into an open manhole in a narrow lane on Saturday, October 4. Her body was found over 21 km away in the sea near Haji Ali on Sunday around 11.15pm.

Bhanushali's husband, Jitesh Dama, had met Commissioner of Police Param Bir Singh on October 7. During the meeting Singh had promised the family that a detailed investigation will be carried out to find out how Bhanushali fell into the manhole and whether there was foul play involved.

The BMC had formed a committee to probe the incident, which reportedly was inconclusive about the reasons behind the death. It is learnt that the report submitted by the committee also fails to clear the mystery behind the death.

The manhole she allegedly fell into. PIC/Rajesh Gupta

"Nothing has changed for the past 25 days, the BMC and Mumbai police still can't figure out how this incident happened. At one point BMC said the body couldn't travel such a distance, but we found it submitted an 'inconclusive' report. This is shocking. We now hope the Mumbai police find what happened," said Karan Dama Bhanushali, brother-in-law of Bhanushali.

Also Read: Ghatkopar manhole death: Drowned woman's son, spouse protest for FIR, detained by police

'Awaiting BMC report'

The Mumbai police are still awaiting a report from BMC. Nitin Alaknoore, senior inspector of Ghatkopar police station said, "We are awaiting inputs from BMC, we aren't aware about their report. We are also conducting a parallel investigation which hasn't given us any clue". Another officer said they will lodge the FIR when they come up with something in the investigation.

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