Pereira sentence: Cops to appeal in HC

A day after the Sewri fastrack court picked holes in the prosecution’s case against Alister Pereira and said that the police investigation was “very casual”, police top brass went into a huddle on Saturday and are gearing up to appeal against the verdict in the High Court.

A special review report on the objections raised by the court was prepared at a day-long meeting held at the office of the Additional Commissioner of Police (West) and attended by the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Senior Inspector, Inspectors and the investigating officers of the case. However, the police officers are not ready to admit that the investigating officers were at fault. Additional Commissioner of Police Bipin Bihari said: “We are consulting legal experts and will appeal in High Court in a few days.”

Pereira was sentenced to six months simple imprisonment for rash and negligent driving, which led to the death of seven labourers sleeping on a pavement along Carter Road last year, but was acquitted of the charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder.

Meanwhile, the investigating officers, Inspector Somnath Phoolsunder and Sub Inspector Meenakshi Patil, were instructed not to interact with the media. Patil told The Sunday Express: “We are not allowed to speak to media. And this is not the first high profile case I am handling. There is no question about my competence.”