‘Police have mishandled missing coworker case’

Civic body’s healthcare workers protested by marching to RCF police stn

First India Bureau

Mumbai: After a community health volunteer went missing on Monday, workers from Chembur and Kurlabased health posts of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) marched to the RCF police station on Friday afternoon. They alleged that the police had mishandled the missing person case of their coworker.

“The police have not found much about her in four days,” said Prakash Devdas, President of the Municipal Health Service Employees Association.

“They told us that the last location of her phone has been traced to Dadar, where she was not supposed to be.

They have not been able to find out whether she went there or her phone was stolen,” he said.

He alleged that the police have not taken the matter seriously and if substantial information on her whereabouts did not come through soon, all 4,000 BMC health workers would go on strike.

As per Rekha Kharatmol’s colleagues at the Ayodhya Nagar health post in Vashi Naka, she had reported for duty at 9 am on January 23. After collecting some es- sentials, she had left the office to make home visits. However, she did not report back at 2 pm as she did on other days.

Over the past five days, the Municipal Health Service Employees Association has contacted various higher officials in the police department and the BMC.

On Friday, some of Kharatmol’s colleagues and her family members met the Senior Inspector at RCF police station, Babasaheb Ghawate, who assured