Woman found dead,gas leak suspected

The woman was identified as Prema Shaikh. Following protests from locals,police registered a case under IPC Section 304 A (causing death by negligence).

Police said Prema and her adopted son Mahesh Chavan (44),resided in a makeshift structure in Phase II of MIDC. The incident took place at around 1.15 am on Saturday.

“Chavan woke up breathless. He tried waking up Shaikh but she didn’t respond fast. He panicked and ran away. He returned at around 3 am to find her unconscious. He rushed her to hospital but she was declared dead on arrival,” said senior inspector D N Pandhare of Manpada police. Pandhare said Chavan took Shaikh’s body back to the shanty and kept it there until 10 am.

“A passerby informed us after he noticing two dead stray dogs too in the vicinity.”

Once the news spread,a large crowd gathered and demanded action against those responsible for the the woman’s death.

A resident claimed such incidents had taken place in the past too but no action had been taken. Meanwhile,police had to ensure the situation did not flare up,and control the crowd that was demanding action.

“We registered a case under Section 304 A (causing death by negligence) of the IPC and are probing further. Meanwhile,post-mortem reports are also awaited,” said Pandhare.