AHMEDABAD: A late-night dispute between neighbours in Ahmedabad’s Bopal area ended in tragedy when a man with a criminal record died after allegedly falling from the fourth floor of a residential building while trying to flee from police.
The deceased, identified as Mahavir Singh Sindhav, had recently shifted to a flat in Bopal. According to police, Sindhav was heavily intoxicated on Monday night when he got into an argument with residents living in another block of the housing society.
The verbal altercation soon escalated, creating panic among residents and prompting them to call the police emergency helpline, 112.
Police said that after learning that officers had arrived at the spot, Sindhav allegedly attempted to escape before he could be detained. Investigators believe he rushed towards the fourth-floor gallery or terrace in an effort to evade police. During the attempt, he reportedly lost his footing and fell from the fourth floor.
Sindhav suffered severe head and multiple body injuries and died on the spot.
Bopal Police Station Inspector Sunil Chaudhary said preliminary investigation and eyewitness accounts indicate that Sindhav fell while trying to flee and that there was no physical confrontation with police at the time of the incident.
“According to the primary investigation and statements of eyewitnesses, Mahavir Singh was running away after learning that the police had arrived. During the escape attempt, he slipped and fell on his own, leading to his death. An accidental death case has been registered,” Chaudhary said.
The body has been sent to Sola Civil Hospital for postmortem examination, while investigators continue to document the circumstances surrounding the incident.
The incident has also brought Sindhav’s criminal history back into focus.
According to police records, several serious criminal cases had been registered against him at different police stations. Before entering the world of crime, Sindhav had reportedly served as a supply soldier in the Indian Army.
Investigators believe that after leaving the service, he came under the radar of law enforcement agencies for alleged involvement in narcotics-related activities.
His name had surfaced during a major drug bust in 2023. Acting on a tip-off, a Local Crime Branch (LCB) team arrested three Rajasthan residents, Akshay Ramkumar Delu, Ankit Vishnuram Bishnoi and Vikramsinh Jadeja, from a flat in Surendranagar and seized narcotics worth Rs 17.81 lakh.
During the investigation, Special Operations Group (SOG) officials allegedly uncovered an interstate drug network. Police sources claimed that the rented flat had been arranged by Sindhav through one of his associates.
The probe also generated suspicions that he was supplying narcotics to operatives linked to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. Those leads prompted the Surendranagar LCB to detain and question him during the investigation.
While police have maintained that the Bopal incident was an accidental death, Sindhav’s sudden demise has once again drawn attention to the nexus between organised crime, the narcotics trade and local criminal networks operating across Gujarat.
