Assistant sub-inspector Ramchandra Bansode (56), attached to the Dadar police station, returned to the police station at 7.15 am today after his night shift on a mobile patrolling van. As soon as he entered the police station, he suffered a heart attack and collapsed. Bansode's colleague rushed him to the nearby Dev Nursing Home. However, Bansode was declared dead before admission. He is survived by two sons and a daughter.

At 9.15 am, assistant police inspector Samuel Sathe (52), attached to the Vile Parle police station, was about to leave his home at the Marol police colony when he complained of severe chest pain to his wife. Sathe's wife rushed him to his neighbour inspector Avhad's place. Avhad took Sathe to Milind NursingHome at Mulund, but doctors at the nursing home advised that Sathe be shifted to the Cooper Hospital as they did not have the necessary infrastructure to treat him. On the way to Cooper Hospital, Sathe breathed his last at Marol Naka. Today's deaths come at a time when the police force is gearing up to tackle cases of stress and hypertension, which have been found to be the major reasons for cops' deaths.

Last month, police commissioner R H Mendonca had called for a meeting of officers of the Police Welfare Department and chief medical surgeon Dr G V Uppe to discuss measures to fight hypertension, the giant killer in the police force.

Consequently, the police administration instituted mandatory periodical medical check-ups for its personnel. Each police station has been asked to maintain a health-file of its personnel and treatment will be given as per personal requirements.