Unfortunately, one of Pawar’s brothers had also died in an accident a few years ago. Pawar and his colleague constable Sanjay Sonavane from Goregaon police station had gone to question accused Kamlesh Maurya regarding a non-cognisable complaint filed against him when they were run over by him. While Sonavane sustained critical injuries and Pawar died in the hospital, five pedestrians were also seriously injured in the incident. 

“We first found about the accident when some of the policemen who were on night duty heard it on their wireless receivers,” said Satish Rathod (21), a resident.

“After someone informed us about the incident, we broke the news to his wife, Lalita. Though we decided to tell her that the accident wasn’t serious, we couldn’t hide the truth once we reached the hospital,” he added. Rathod, who spent the whole night at the BSES Hospital, recounted that Pawar was bleeding consistently. “There was a lot of blood as his head hit the windshield of the Tavera. Since he was unconscious we were worried,” he said. “His wife was inconsolable and refused to leave before speaking to him. But for her sake, we hid the news of his death for six hours and told her to go to her parents house in Ghatkopar,” said another resident. “We told her that he was to be shifted to Bombay Hospital. It was the only way to calm her down,” added Rathod.

Pawar was the eldest of three brothers and used to live in Bhendi Bazaar Police Lines all his life as his father also served as a police constable. He lived with his wife, who works with a bank in Thane and his sons.