Based on the audio recordings, a copy of which is with The Indian Express, the Thane police have ordered a fresh inquiry to ascertain the veracity of the audio recordings and asked a DIG-ranked officer to probe the matter.
Nearly four months after the Thane City Police gave a clean chit to four of the 10 police personnel attached to Mumbra police station for allegedly usurping Rs 6 crore from a Mumbra-based toy trader saying that the money was not real currency but “toy notes”, four audio recordings of telephone conversations purportedly between two of the 10 accused have forced the department to initiate a fresh inquiry into the matter.
Based on the audio recordings, a copy of which is with The Indian Express, the Thane police have ordered a fresh inquiry to ascertain the veracity of the audio recordings and asked a DIG-ranked officer to probe the matter.
The matter relates to a case where, in May 2022, the Thane police received a complaint stating that about 10 police personnel from the Mumbra police station had allegedly usurped Rs 6 crore from a toy trader on April 12, 2022. After an investigation, the officers were suspended pending inquiry. The suspended policemen were inspector Gitaram Shewale, sub-inspectors Ravi Madane and Harshal Kale, constables Pankaj Gaikar, Jagdish Gavit, Dilip Kirpan, Praveen Kumbhar, Ankush Vaidya, Lalit Mahajan and Nilesh Salunkhe.
With new details emerging, a senior officer from the Thane police told The Indian Express, “Yes we have received a copy of the said audio recordings and have asked Thane Additional Commissioner (Crime) Punjabrao Ugale to conduct an inquiry in the matter. It will include recording the statements of the officers concerned and sending the audio clips for forensic analysis to verify its authenticity.”
The officer, however, said that when the 10 officers, initially suspended in the matter, were asked about the audio recordings, none of them owned up to it. He further added that the earlier inquiry that gave a clean chit to four cops was ongoing and not closed as yet. Thane Police Commissioner Jai Jeet Singh did not comment on the matter when contacted by The Indian Express.
Earlier this month, a complaint was submitted by BJP’s Mahila Morcha vice-president Rida Rashid to Maharashtra CM Eknath Shinde, Deputy CM and Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis and the Thane Police Commissioner seeking a probe into the audio files and submitted the same in a pen drive on August 11. In the letter, Rashid said, “On August 3 morning I received several audio clips from an unidentified number. When I heard those audio clips, it was a conversation about the Mumbra police raid on April 12, 2022 and mentions who received how much money..” The letter goes on to mention 16 persons from cops to politicians.
She further wrote, “I have sent the audio files to DCP (zone I) and DCP (crime). I request you to conduct an inquiry in the above matter. I had written a letter earlier as well but the earlier inquiry saved influential people and only lower-ranked policemen were named. The audio clips clearly indicate that the earlier inquiry was not conducted in a proper manner.”
When contacted, Rashid told The Indian Express, “Yes it is true I had written the letter asking the police to conduct an inquiry into the audio tapes. It can clearly be seen that the earlier inquiry was not conducted in the proper manner.”
In one of the audio recordings, accessed by The Indian Express, the two cops allegedly involved in the case are purportedly heard saying, ” ..the box (containing the money) should not have been broken in front of the CCTV… that is where the problem occurred… or else how would anyone know what is in it…(later) he (a Mumbra local) had arranged Rs 6 crore in fake banking notes and it looks like the same money…in the CCTV if you see no one will recognize (these are fake notes)”.
He adds, “..the day of the raid we were going to give news that fake notes were found but Sir told us not to..had the news come out that day the matter would have been settled…the panchnama that we had found fake notes was also kept ready…”
In another conversation, one of the cops tells the other, “In the DCP’s enquiry, Sarfaraz Memon (the toy trader) has in his affidavit said it was toy money and he has no complaint against the police..Based on his statement other statements were taken… he said he brought toy money from a shop in Masjid Bandar…then took the statement of the shop owner that he sold toy money and Memon took money…see the enquiry against us is nil. As long as no money is involved..we are all safe..if money comes in all will be in trouble including the seniors..”
The purported conversation further talks about “distribution” of money and the junior officers getting a “raw deal” in the entire episode.
While in the case, in May 2022, initially a departmental inquiry against them was to be conducted by the then deputy commissioner of police (Zone I), Thane Police but was later handed to DCP (crime branch). Eventually after three months, the officers had been reinstated but placed in side postings.
A year later on April 19, 2023, the Thane police gave a clean chit to four of the 10 cops including a police sub inspector (PSI) on the grounds that their role was not found. Senior officers had further said that during the inquiry it came to light that the Rs 6 crore had not been taken by the police as the amount was in toy notes. The inquiry report said that they had recorded the statement of the toy trader who agreed to this version.
Source : The Indian Express