SUSPENDED DCP Saurabh Tripathi who had approached the Supreme Court seeking to transfer the FIR registered against him by Mumbai Police to CBI in connection with the Angadia extortion case, withdrew his plea before the apex court on Friday. Sources said that Tripathi, who has been on the run since March 15, will likely approach Bombay High Court for bail. So far, the police have arrested five persons in the case and are on the lookout for two others– Tripathi and his father.
Tripathi, who has been on the run, filed a petition before the SC, impleading himself in the disposed-of plea of former Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh and seeking the transfer of his case from the Mumbai Police to the CBI.
In his petition, Tripathi alleged that since he refused to head an SIT to probe cases against Param Bir Singh, then Mumbai Police Commissioner Hemant Nagrale and Vishwas Nangre-Patil foisted a fake case against him. Tripathi alleged that he has been a victim of a witch-hunt and hence his case be transferred to CBI.
An officer said that since Tripathi’s anticipatory bail application has already been rejected by the Sessions court, he is likely to file a bail plea before the Bombay High Court. The officer added, “After the Supreme Court informed him that it would not be viable to implead him in the disposed off plea, he decided to withdraw his petition,” the official added.
The Mumbai Police had on February 19 registered an FIR against three policemen and arrested them for demanding money from Angadias. Later, the police named Tripathi as a wanted accused in the case as the arrested officers said they were working on his orders. However, Tripathi fled by then and has managed to elude the police so far. The police have also arrested Tripathi’s brother-in-law and named his father as a wanted accused in the case. Recently, the Mumbai Police filed a chargesheet against the three cops arrested in the case.
