Trio held for 'assaulting' NCB cops; accused say 'fake case'

The arrested accused's families claim that the NCB officers assaulted the trio. Pic for representation

Following a complaint filed by the Narcotics Control Bureau (NCB) on Monday, the Goregaon police registered a case and arrested three men for allegedly assaulting some officers of the agency while they were on duty. However, the accused's families claim that the NCB officers assaulted the trio and filed a fake case against them.

The accused have been identified as Vipul Agre, 25, who works in the Merchant Navy; Yusuf Shaikh, who works as an architect and Amin Shaik, Yusuf's father and a tailor by profession.

Cops questioned

According to the FIR registered by Superintendent of NCB, Vishwavijay Singh, "On November 22 we laid a trap near Jawahar Hall in Goregaon and were waiting to nab a drug peddler. Another accused Kerry Mendes was in our custody and he was sitting in the car along with some of my team members. Suddenly a person came near the car and asked us why we had caught the man sitting inside the car and where was he being taken. I showed them my identity card and said that we were investigating a case. They started arguing with the team. One of them assaulted me from behind and another grabbed me by my collar."

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In its official statement, the NCB said, "The NCB Mumbai team was attacked by three people. They started abusing and pushing the team members and fought with them as well. They even damaged the official vehicle and a pair of handcuffs. Their efforts were directed towards freeing the accused. They even gathered a mob, which surrounded the NCB team. The officers showed exemplary courage and thwarted the attempts of these people. Two NCB officers suffered minor injuries in the incident. The Goregaon police was called at the spot. An FIR has been lodged against the trio at Goregaon West police station under sections 353, 323, 504 & 34 of IPC."

However, the accused's lawyer Amardeep Bhattacharya, said, "The NCB created a fake story. My clients saw a couple of people in plain clothes forcefully pushing a person into their car. Even the vehicle did not look like a police van. Just as alert citizens they asked them where they were taking the person. When my clients asked them to show their identity cards, the NCB officers got angry and started beating them up. The NCB misused its power and destroyed their life." Bhattacharya further said that they would file a suit in high court against the NCB officers.

'Pointed gun at me'

Speaking to mid-day, Vipul Agre's father Krishna said, "My son is innocent. The NCB has filed a fake case against him. Meanwhile, Yusuf Shaikh's brother Junaid said, "That day I got a call from one of my friends who said that someone was beating Yusuf. When I reached the spot I saw four to five people assaulting him. When I asked one of them what the matter was, he pointed his revolver at me."

When asked whether accused Kerry Mendes had any connection with the trio, NCB superintendent Singh said, "We don't know whether they have any links. The matter has to be investigated." "Based on a complaint received from NCB, we registered an FIR and arrested three people," said S Chaitanya, Mumbai police spokesperson.

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