Court: Why Lahoria murder accused in hosp?

Another Accused Too In Same Hosp: Builder’s Son

S Ahmed Ali TNN

Mumbai: The Thane court on Monday directed the Thane jailer to be present in court on September 6 to explain how Suresh Bijlani, main accused in the murder of Navi Mumbai builder Sunil Lahoria, was admitted to hospital without its permission. Bijlani has also been caught on CCTV camera talking “freely” on a cellphone without any police security in hospital.
    This is the second such incident in the last 24 hours. In Sunday’s edition, TOI published a picture of Malegaon accused Dayanand Pandey using a public phone to talk to his family and friends outside the city sessions court.
    On Monday, Thane magistrate K R Warrier seemd to be upset after Lahoria’s son, Sandeep, brought to the court’s notice that Bijlani had been admitted to the Thane Civil Hospital.
    On August 14, Bijlani had complained to the magistrate that his knees were hurting and he needed to be admitted to hospital for a particular injection. Denying permission for his hospital stay, the court directed the jailer in writing that Bijlani be taken to a government hospital, as and when he required the injection and that he should not be admitted. “But the Thane jail authorities hospitalized him 10 days ago without intimating the court about it. When I visited the hospital, I found Bijlani freely using a cellphone and no policemen were around,” said Sandeep.
    Bijlani’s advocate Ramesh Tripathi admitted to the court that he “has been hospitalized on doctor’s recommendation as he had a major knee problem”.
    Sandeep has reportedly found that another accused, Bhupesh Gupta, has also been admitted to the same hospital, and on the same floor as Bijlani. After his arrest in July, Gupta was sent to Taloja jail. “If he was unwell, he should have been admitted to a government hospital in Navi Mumbai. I fail to understand why he has been admitted to Thane where he can plan another criminal conspiracy,” claimed Sandeep.
    This is not the first time that the court has pulled up Bijlani. In the past too, a court had rapped him for not surrendering before the police. Subsequently, even the Supreme Court sought an explanation from the Indore high court for granting Bijlani a 60-days transit bail despite the fact that the apex court had rejected his plea for anticipatory bail.

Suresh Bijlani was seen using his cellphone at the Thane Civil Hospital