MUMBAI: A 55-year-old Air India pilot from Versova was allegedly assaulted by a former colleague and his four bodyguards when he went to collect ₹5 lakh he had lent to him last year.
The complainant, Kapil Kohal, had known the accused, Deven Kanani, 55, since 1995, when both were undergoing training at Raebareli, Uttar Pradesh. While Kohal continued with Air India, Kanani later lost his job.
According to the police, Kanani borrowed ₹5 lakh from him in November 2024, promising to repay it within a month, for which Kohal told him he could return the money whenever convenient. Earlier this month, when Kohal asked for repayment, Kanani initially claimed he had no money, but on Saturday, he called Kohal to his residence on New Link Road in Goregaon West, saying he could come and collect the money.
“When Kohal arrived, he noticed four bodyguards in the passage but assumed they belonged to another resident. As soon as he entered Kanani’s flat, the bodyguards followed him,” said a police officer. He added that when the bodyguards entered the flat, Kohal was suspicious and informed his son about the meeting, instructing him to reach the spot if he did not call back within 15 minutes. The bodyguards then started to assault him and when Kohal failed to respond, his son arrived with the police and rescued him from the apartment.
Subsequently, based on Kohal’s complaint, the police registered a case against Deven Kanani, his wife, and four bodyguards under sections 352 (intentional insult with the intent to provoke a breach of peace), 351 (criminal intimidation), 126 (wrongful restraint), 127 (wrongful confinement), 190 (every member of unlawful assembly guilty of offence committed in prosecution of common object), 191 (rioting) and 115 (deals with the offense of voluntarily causing hurt) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.