Mumbai, Nov 27 (PTI) A Mumbai court on Thursday extended till December 2 the police custody of Maharashtra minister Pankaja Munde’s personal assistant Anant Garje, held for allegedly abetting his wife’s suicide.
The police told the court there was need to to probe the injury marks on his body. The defence, represented by advocate Mangesh Deshmukh, did not oppose the police’s plea for remand extension, saying it wanted the truth to come out.
Garje’s wife, Dr Gauri Palve (28), allegedly hanged herself in her flat at Worli in central Mumbai on Saturday. Based on a complaint filed by her father, the Worli police had registered an abetment of suicide case against Garje and two of his relatives. The police arrested Garje early Monday.
He was produced before a magistrate court here at the end of his previous remand on Thursday.
The police pressed for his custody on the grounds that they needed to probe Garje’s phone calls and recordings as well as certain injury marks on his body. The other grounds cited by the police included pending investigation with the absconding accused in the case.
Garje’s lawyer, Mangesh Deshmukh, contended that the defence has always cooperated with the investigation and had no objection to the remand extension. The defence wants the police to thoroughly investigate the case, so that the truth comes out, he submitted.
The court, after hearing both sides, extended Garje’s custody till December 2.
Garje and Palve, a dentist attached to civic-run KEM Hospital, tied the knot in February this year.
Palve’s family has alleged she was tortured and harassed by Garje, which forced her to take the extreme step.
In their complaint to the police, Palve’s family alleged Garje had an extra-marital affair, and Palve caught him chatting with another woman over phone. The couple would fight over the issue and Garje allegedly used to threaten his wife, the police said. PTI AVI BNM
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