Bail plea of Sangli cops, who pocketed stolen booty, rejected

Mohiuddin Mulla, the robber

The Kolhapur sessions court on Monday rejected the anticipatory bail application of four of seven policemen of Sangli crime branch who allegedly pocketed around Rs 10 crore of the money stolen from a local builder's office in March last year.

While the bail plea of Assistant Police Inspector Sharad Kuralpkar, Head Constables Deepak Patil and Shankar Patil, and Police Naik Ravindra Patil were turned down, three others - Inspector Vishwanath Ghanvat, Assistant Police Inspector Suraj Chandanshive and Police Naik Kuldeep Kamble - are absconding. Two civilians - Mohiuddin Mulla (44) and Chandashive's associate Praveen Sawant, are also at large.

Robbing the robber
In March 2016, habitual robber Mohiuddin Mulla was picked up on suspicion by Sangli crime branch sleuths. A search of his shanty in Miraj near Sangli led to the discovery of crores of rupees in cash. He told the police that he had robbed a builder's office in Warnanagar, Kolhapur, on March 8, adding that a lot more money had been left behind. He led the police to the spot, following which the men in khaki allegedly helped themselves to some of the stocked cash as well as distributed the booty stolen by Mulla amongst themselves. They then arrested Mulla for the robbery. They, however, slipped up when showing the stolen amount in the panchnama and the cash recovered; the two didn't tally.

Discreet inquiry
The policemen's alleged offence came to light after a five-month-long discreet inquiry by Additional SP, Kolhapur, Suhail Sharma.

The probe was ordered by Special IGP Vishwas Nangre Patil based on a complainant by the builder, Zunzar Sarnobat, who suspected that the policemen had taken a chunk of his money. "The police suspect that over Rs 14 crore were stocked in the cupboard in the builder's office. Only around Rs 4 crore has been recovered so far," said a senior police officer.

The matter was then brought to the notice of DGP Satish Mathur, who directed that an FIR be registered against the policemen and civilians named in the report.

Two separate FIRs were then registered on April 16 this year - one against four policemen and two civilians for siphoning off Rs 6 crore, and another against six policemen and a civilian for stealing Rs 3.18 crore.

The same day, the case was transferred to the State CID.

Police inquires have revealed that some of the policemen have already used the ill-gotten wealth to buy benami properties. One of them deposited over R60 lakh in a bank account and another gave out a loan.

Another police officer said the CID has launched a manhunt to nab Mulla (44), who jumped bail a few months after his arrest.

Shree 420
Mohiuddin Mulla is a habitual offender and has several cases lodged against him at different police stations across the state. He previously worked as a driver at the house of the builder's relative in Kolhapur. He quit the job just a few months prior to the robbery.