31 August,2018 07:14 AM IST | Mumbai | Anurag Kamble
A search operation carried out early this year by the Navi Mumbai police, for Ashwini Bidre-Gore's (below) body, failed to turn up anything. File Pics
Abhay Kurundkar, the prime accused in the murder of assistant inspector Ashwini Bidre-Gore, had called cops attached to the Thane (Rural) commissionerate and left an "anonymous tip-off" to search for the body of a policewoman, who had "jumped" from the Bhayander bridge. Cops along with three local fishermen and eight to 10 unknown people carried out the search in Vasai creek for nearly five days with no luck.
And this, allegedly, is what Kurundkar wanted - it was a test of sorts by him to check if he had managed to make the body disappear and if it would remain untraced. This has come to light after the recent recording of statements of cops and fishermen by the Navi Mumbai police, who are investigating the April 2016 murder, for which senior inspector Kurundkar and three others have been arrested.
Ashwini Bidre-Gore
More questions
Interestingly, none of the cops from Thane (Rural) has been investigated or questioned why they didn't make a diary entry for such a massive search operation, or why they didn't investigate the 'unknown' officer from Thane police who gave the tip-off.
On the other hand, Michael Valetin Malya, his brother Jacob, and one more fisherman at Vasai told cops that they received a call from Kurundkar, seeking help to search for a body.
"This clearly indicates a few things - the seven cops attached to Thane (Rural) police knew that a police officer has given the tip-off; they carried out a search but didn't think it necessary to inform their superiors; also, the officer who received the call didn't bother to inquire who the caller was, all of which is strange," said an officer privy to investigation details, adding, "It appears cops deliberately hid the caller's identity."
'Dereliction of duty'
The Navi Mumbai police have taken down statements of more than 70 people in the case, including the Thane (Rural) cops. Bidre-Gore's family recently met the newly-appointed Navi Mumbai Police Commissioner Sanjay Kumar and put forward various complaints regarding loopholes in the investigation left by then investigating and supervising officers.
"This is a dereliction of duty... none of them [the cops who carried out the search] has been inquired or questioned about the act," said Raju Gore, husband of the deceased.
"Also, no investigation has been done to find out who were the eight to 10 people who posed as relatives and went with the fishermen for the search. We want the investigation to make note of it and go in this direction, so that these officers can be made accused too."
Also read: Ashwini Bidre murder case: Fellow cop and lover identified as killer
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