Mumbai: Second cop suspended after moral policing sting op

The sting operation by mid-day on Mumbai's cops using moral policing to extort money from young couples has led to the suspension of the second constable from the four who were caught on camera by our reporters.

A camera still of Constable Vilas Gojre from Vikhroli police station as he extorted Rs 500 from our reporters during the sting operation

mid-day published its front-page report on February 1, exposing four cops who harassed our reporters and extorted money from them under the threat of charging them with obscenity in a public place, even though former commissioner of police Rakesh Maria had expressly forbidden the force from resorting to moral policing. Mumbai Police has now asked couples to contact the main control room (dial 100), if any cops harass them under this pretext.

Constable Vilas Gojre, attached with the Vikhroli police station, has now been suspended after an inquiry initiated by the new Commissioner of Police Datta Padsalgikar. Gojre is the second to be suspended, after Santosh Gosalkar from BKC police station. While Gojre's suspension order was out on Thursday, Gosalkar was suspended a day after this paper's report. Officers are still awaiting the inquiry reports on the other two constables, Sachin Ranjane and Sanjay Munde, attached with the Kalachowkie and Matunga police stations respectively.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Dhananjay Kulkarni (spokesperson) confirmed the suspension and said, "After Gosalkar's suspension on February 2, Gojre has also been suspended from the police force on Thursday. We are still awaiting the detailed reports on the remaining two constables."