Ad agency owner drugged, robbed, left unconscious on Dadar footpath for 16 hours
MSRTC staff who helped him alight from the bus at Dadar assumed he was drunk and left him conscious and unattended on the pavement
MUMBAI: A 57-year-old advertising and branding agency owner who was travelling from Pune to Mumbai by a Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) bus was drugged en route and robbed of money and valuables worth ₹3.70 lakh. MSRTC staff who helped him alight from the bus at Dadar assumed he was drunk and left him conscious and unattended on the footpath for over 16 hours before his family located him and admitted him to a hospital. While the man regained consciousness after over three days, police have booked an unknown person for drugging and robbing him.
The advertising professional, Shailendra Sathe, 57, stays with his wife and two sons in Pune’s Baner area. On June 14 morning, he took a luxury Shivneri bus run by MSRTC to travel from Pune to Mumbai.
“When the bus reached the food mall in Khalapur, I had an ice cream and returned to my seat. The passenger sitting beside me told me that he was traveling from Bengaluru to Mumbai via Pune and his co-passenger offered me a cup of coffee. Though I generally do not drink coffee, I don’t know how I fell for it and drank it. I vaguely remember that he administered me an injection, after which I have no memory,” Sathe told HT.
The driver, who noticed Sathe after reaching the Dadar bus stand, helped him alight from the bus and lie down on the pavement, assuming he was drunk. Sathe’s family members had started searching for him by then – since his phone was switched off, his wife Maithili called the Chembur and Govandi police stations to check if they had any information, but in vain.
“His wife knew that he always took a Shivneri while travelling between Mumbai and Pune, as the buses are clean and comfortable. So she called her brother Vishal Karkhanis, who lives in Mumbai, and asked him to check at the bus stand,” said an officer from the Matunga police station, which is probing the case.
When Karkanis visited the Dadar bus stand on June 15 and inquired about Sathe, he was directed to a man who was lying on the pavement, said police. “He checked on the man and realised it was his brother-in-law, lying unconscious. So he immediately informed the family and rushed Sathe to Jupiter Hospital in Thane,” said the police officer.
On June 18, after around 80 hours of being drugged, Sathe gained consciousness while he was in the hospital, the officer added.
For Sathe though, it felt like a rebirth, he said. “I was lying on the pavement for 16 hours, unconscious and unattended while it was raining. I was dehydrated, but nobody bothered to check on me, not even the MSRTC staff who helped me alight from the bus and left me on the pavement for 16 hours. Fortunately, my wife and brother-in-law found me in the nick of time,” he said.
It was only after he regained consciousness that he realised he had lost gold jewellery worth ₹3.25 lakh, including a pendant, chain and bracelet, which he was carrying. “I also lost my mobile phone, a bag containing ₹9,000 in cash and debit and credit cards,” said Sathe.
Once he felt better, he approached the Khopoli police in Raigad, who first registered a case against an unknown accused under sections 328 (causing hurt by means of poison, etc. with intent to commit an offence) and 379 (theft) of the Indian Penal Code. The case was later transferred to Matunga police station.
“After we received the case papers, we checked the CCTV footage and found the accused who had drugged Sathe alighted at Chembur. We are trying to identify and apprehend him,” said the police officer.
MSRTC spokesperson Abhijit Bhosale said they were cooperating fully with the police probe. “It was footage from our CCTV cameras that helped the police get a photo of the accused and learn that he got off at Chembur. Our staff also helped Sathe alight from the bus as he was drowsy but walking. They did not know what had happened to him,” said Bhosale.
He also cautioned passengers against accepting food items from unknown co-passengers, saying, “This is the precise reason why we keep announcing and alerting people.”
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