Mumbai: ACB cracks down on corrupt cops who take bribe

Subodh Jaiswal

Irritated with the cops who are getting caught in consecutive traps set by the Anti-Corruption Bureau to catch them in the act of taking bribes, top cop Subodh Jaiswal pleaded with officials to steer clear of corruption. Jaiswal addressed a gathering of police inspectors in South Mumbai, but within a few hours, another cop was trapped at Kherwadi police station and accused of taking a bribe. In the last six days, three such traps have been reported.

Jaiswal, known for his discipline and uprightness, had urged all police officials to stay away from corruption and other illegal activities when he took the post last year. But 2019 began with police officer Anand Bhoir being trapped and arrested by the Crime Branch for taking '22 lakh as bribe. Even though strict instructions were given to all the officials across Mumbai, a spate of incidents were reported. On February 11, assistant police officer Deepak Kharat was caught red-handed while accepting a bribe of '25,000. On February 13, police inspector Dattatray Chaudhary was trapped while accepting '80,000 as the first instalment of a promised bribe of '3 lakh.

After both the incidents, Jaiswal took the stage during a training workshop for police inspectors at Prerna Hall, Azad Maidan. He expressed his displeasure over graft cases, and said, "I want to request you all to stay away from such illegal activities and also spread information in your police station about this. An officer getting caught in the police station is the worst thing, not just for the particular person but for the whole police station, as people's perception changes when such things happen."

He instructed the officials on February 13, and within 48 hours, another official was held in a graft case. On February 15, the Anti-Corruption Bureau trapped sub-inspector Shyam Ayre while accepting a bribe of '40,000. "This is the third trap in the last five days," said a senior official. "This brings a bad name to the Mumbai police department, which is known for its uprightness and professionalism. DCPs and senior inspectors have been asked to be cautious and inform their officers about possible actions after receiving any complaints from citizens."

The rot is everywhere
Meanwhile, two sub-inspectors of Colaba police station, who took a '50,000 bribe from traders, returned it after a top cop intervened. The cops - Manik Holkar and Sagar Takale - allegedly extorted '50,000 from business partners Israr Ahmed Chaudhary and Zahid Chaudhary, but when one of them approached the additional CP (south region), Pravin Padwal, the culprits were forced to return the money and also suspended for the illegal act.

Israr, who runs a transport business, had loaned two of his trucks to Zahid. After a conflict rose between them, and he took away the trucks, Zahid complained to the cops. In order to resolve the issue, the cops extorted '30,000 in cash from Israr, and '20,000 in cash from Zahid. On January 18, Israr approached Padwal and narrated the incident to him. "He called both the PSIs to his office and asked them to return the money and documents of the tempos," Israr said. Later, Holkar met Israr and returned the cash and papers. However, no case has been registered against the PSIs.

Speaking to mid-day, a senior police officer said the matter was being probed by Divisional ACP Subhash Khanvilkar. "Both the PSIs have been suspended," said a senior officer.
Zahid said, "The cops were not returning the documents even though our business dispute had been resolved. They had kept the papers because they were planning to extort more money from us. But thankfully, Israr approached senior police officers and we got the money and documents back."

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