Suspended cop Gautam Anna Gaikwad, his wife, two daughters and son gathered outside the DG's office and demanded that the re-investigation in the corruption case against him be dropped; local cops were called in to remove them
A high-octane drama unfolded at the state’s Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) in Worli on Wednesday afternoon when a suspended police inspector, along with his family, staged a protest outside the director general’s office, asking him to stop reinvestigating a case in which he was involved. With the inspector and his family members refusing to budge, the DG had to call the local police, who then escorted them to the police station, and detained them till late into the night.
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Gautam Gaikwad outside the Worli police station after the fracas
On Wednesday at 4 pm, police inspector Gautam Anna Gaikwad, who is currently under suspension on the charge of accepting bribes, approached DG Praveen Dixit’s office, along with his family members. “I had been cleared of all the charges by the court in September, and even by the former DG Raj Khilnani.
Dixit Sir, who had taken charge in the month of October, has now ordered a reinvestigation of the case. I have already suffered so much, in spite of my innocence. I wanted to convey my innocence to my superior, and hence I went to the office with my family members who have also suffered a lot owing to the suspension,” said Gaikwad.
Gaikwad, along with his wife, two daughters and son, reached Dixit’s office and demanded to meet the latter. Dixit, however, refused to call them into his office. He emerged in a while and warned them to leave the premises. Despite the warning, when the family refused to leave, the Worli police was called to the spot, and escorted the Gaikwads to the police station at 7 pm.
An hour later, the cops took a written application from the Gaikwads and released them from the police station. “I had written several letters to the higher officials and Mantralaya, seeking justice. In the letter I had also mentioned that in case they failed to respond to my pleas, I would stage a protest along with my family, said Gaikwad.
“I only know that my father is innocent. If they arrest him, we will all also go to jail,” said Gaikwad’s daughter as she waited outside Worli police station. Dixit said, “If Gaikwad needs justice, he should go the court instead of coming to my office. We are here to investigate, and if he is innocent, we will not forcefully charge him with something he hasn’t done. Today, he came to my office and said that he wouldn’t leave the premises until he gets justice, so I took the help of local police to get him out.”
The case
On March 5, 2013, Gaikwad and his associate Dr Premsaroj Bhansali were arrested for allegedly taking a bribe of Rs 35,000 from a lawyer. It was alleged that he and Bhansali approached an advocate and threatened to book him in a false case. They demanded a bribe of Rs 2 lakh. The advocate promised to pay the first installment of Rs 35,000 and informed the ACB, who laid a trap and arrested Gaikwad.
“I had been falsely implicated in the case. The complainant in the case was involved in a forgery case, and since he knew that I was about to arrest him, he approached me with the money and laid a trap with the help of ACB,” Gaikwad said. He added, “The ACB had no evidence in the case.
I just went to meet the advocate at his request, and while I was removing my footwear at his doorsteps, the raiding team landed and placed me under arrest. There is no FIR in the case and even the chargesheet could not be filed on time.” Gaikwad was released on bail in just three days after he was picked up. Since there was no evidence in the case, the chargesheet was not filed and he was finally discharged from the ACB court.u00a0
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