He had gone to inquire about some bungalows at Somatane phata on Mumbai highway; five men abused and beat him up, thinking he was posing as an officer and had come to loot them, they then locked him
Pune: A Mumbai-based Enforcement Directorate (ED) officer, Umeshkumar Yogesh Gandhi (34), who had travelled to Pune to probe a case, was allegedly abused, beaten and locked up for four hours, and released when one of the assaulters was convinced that he was a genuine officer, on April 10. Police have arrested five men for the assault.
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A case was registered with the Talegaon Dabhade police station on Tuesday under relevant sections of Indian Penal Code comprising 323 (causing hurt), 342 (wrongful confinement), 353 (deterring public servant from doing his duty) and 34 (acts done with common intention).
The probe
ED is probing the promoter of logistic firm Siddhi Vinayak Logistic Limited (SVLL), for allegedly aiding laundering of money — R846.29 crore — in a Bank of Maharashtra loan fraud case.
As per Gandhi's statement, on April 10, he went to Emerald Hills society situated at Somatane phata, on the Mumbai highway, for information about some bungalows related to the case. He met the society's supervisor Datta Kakade and inquired about the bungalows. Later he claimed Kakade took him to another phase saying he could get details of three remaining bungalows.
The incident
Gandhi further said that later Kakade left saying he had some work. He collected information from a person in one of the bungalows. But when he approached him again for some more information, the person asked him to come in. When he did so, another man there started to abuse and thrash him. He claims he was beaten with a stick and three other men were called and all five began to beat him. Gandhi said he showed them his identity card and a letter from ED, but they took away his wallet, mobile handsets, and the letter.
One of the persons claimed to be a policeman. Gandhi said they then locked him for four hours. One of the men even answered a call from his superior around 6.52 pm. Gandhi claimed after beating him again, they let him go at 8 pm.
Deputy superintendent of Police Akshay Shinde said, "The people who beat him up have been arrested. They thought he was posing as an ED officer and had come to loot them. Neither of them is a police personnel."
4hrs
Duration that the ED officer was left locked up
5
Number of persons arrested for beating up the officer
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