Ten policemen attached with Mumbra police station under the Thane City Police Commissionerate were suspended on Wednesday and a departmental inquiry set up against them for allegedly extorting Rs 6 crore from a toy trader and builder last month.
The suspended policemen have been identified as inspector Gitaram Shewale, sub-inspectors Ravi Madane and Harshal Kale as well as constables Pankaj Gaikar, Jagdish Gavit, Dilip Kirpan, Praveen Kumbhar, Ankush Vaidya, Lalit Mahajan and Nilesh Salunkhe.
The departmental inquiry against them will be conducted by deputy commissioner of police (Zone I), Thane Police.
The 10 policemen, along with three private persons, had on April 12 raided the house of Faisal Memon, a builder and a toy trader from
Mumbra.
The police had claimed that they received a tip-off that Memon was in possession of a huge amount of unaccounted cash. During the raid, cash worth Rs 30 crore was seized from his house.
A person named Shaikh ibrahim Pasha, in a complaint, has alleged that the accused forcibly took Rs 6 crore from Memon to suppress the
case.
Pasha had submitted a written complaint to Thane Police Commissioner Jaijeet Singh on April 25. The letter was also marked to the chief minister’s office and the home ministry. Sources said after verifying the facts, the 10 men were suspended and a departmental inquiry ordered against them.
The letter dated April 25 stated that around 12 am on April 14, a few policemen from Mumbra police station came to Memon’s residence and carried out searches. They seized cash worth Rs 30 crore, which the letter claimed was Memon’s “hard-earned money”.
The letter alleged that the police team took 30 boxes containing the Rs 30 crore in cash to Mumbra police station while accusing Memon of hoarding black money. It added that to suppress the matter, the policemen demanded half of the money from Memon, who in turn, agreed to pay Rs 2 crore.
The policemen then allegedly told him that they would take Rs 2 crore from the boxes and return the rest. However, the letter added that the policemen took Rs 6 crore and returned 24 boxes of cash. When Memon asked about the rest of the money, the accused threatened, assaulted him and asked to leave, the letter said, seeking an FIR against the policemen.
“…The money was kept at the cabin of the senior inspector for counting and everything can be seen in the CCTV camera footage,” the letter stated.
Jaijeet Singh said, “Three officers and seven men have been suspended. A departmental inquiry has been ordered against all the suspended personnel. The deputy commissioner of police (Zone 1) will conduct the probe.” He added that no offence has been registered in the matter yet.
