Navi Mumbai: Sheetal Devkate, 27, plans to file a First Information Report (FIR) against certain officials from the Public Works Department (PWD). This action follows the suicide of her husband, Gajanan Devkate, 37, who took his life at their Ulwe residence on August 25. Sheetal alleges that these officials may have contributed to his decision to end his life.
PSI Waman Baraf said the police had recorded Sheetal’s statement and that her family had taken the body to Nanded for the final rites. He said he would come to the police station next Tuesday,” Baraf said. Police said no suicide note was found at Devkate’s residence.
Ulwe police have so far registered an accidental death report.
However, in July last year, he had written to PWD executive engineer (Mumbai City division) Vidyadhar Pataskar about difficulties in getting his bills cleared. “We contacted Sheetal’s maternal brother, Gajanan Waghmode, who works at Mantralaya, on Thursday, to record statements of other family members.
He said contractors had to make repeated visits to officials to secure work and then make several more trips to get completed-work bills cleared. He warned that the prolonged delay had left his family in a “severe financial crisis” affecting their livelihood and survival and appealed for urgent assistance to avert starvation. — George Mendonca In the letter, Devkate described himself as a small-time contractor dependent on government projects for his livelihood.
Because his PWD bills had not been cleared and that concerned executive engineers repeatedly made him run from pillar to post and allegedly demanded bribes for clearing the files, in an interview with a Marathi news channel, she alleged that her husband was under severe financial strain.
Speaking to TOI from Nanded, Sheetal said that after completing the post-death rituals and consulting relatives, she would file a complaint against the officials responsible for withholding the payments.