Pilot suicide: Court extends custody of boyfriend; cops say they want to retrieve phone chats

Mumbai, Nov 29 (PTI) A Mumbai court on Friday extended till December 2 the police remand of the boyfriend of an Air India pilot, who allegedly committed suicide, after cops contended they need to retrieve deleted WhatsApp chats between the two from his mobile phone.

Pilot Srishti Tuli (25), who lived in a rented flat in the 'Kanakia Rain Forest' building in the Marol area, allegedly committed suicide in the early hours of Monday.

As per police, she hanged herself using a data cable at her flat following which her boyfriend, Aditya Pandit (27), was arrested and charged with abetment of suicide.

Pandit was produced before a magistrate's court in suburban Andheri at the end of his previous remand on Friday.

Police sought further custody of Pandit from the court, saying they need to retrieve deleted WhatsApp chats between the accused and Tuli from his mobile phone.

The chats may reveal crucial information related to the victim's death, they submitted.

Pandit was detained on Tuesday after one of Tuli's relatives accused him of harassing, abusing her and forcing her to stop consuming non-vegetarian food, police earlier said, citing the FIR registered in the case.

According to the probe agency, Tuli hailed from Uttar Pradesh and had been living in Mumbai for work since June last year.

She and Pandit had met while pursuing a commercial pilot course in New Delhi two years ago and got into a relationship.

Pandit was en route to Delhi in his car when Tuli called him, saying "she would end her life". Pandit rushed back to Mumbai and found the door of her flat locked from inside, an official said earlier.

He got the door opened with the help of a key maker and found Tuli hanging with a data cable. She was taken to SevenHills Hospital, where doctors declared her dead. No suicide note was found in the house, he said.

Based on a complaint filed by the pilot's uncle, Pandit was arrested under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita section 108 (abetment of suicide) and produced in a court which remanded him to police custody for four days. PTI AVI RSY