The Mumbai Police on Saturday suspended four of the six officers who were booked in a land grabbing case by the Central Bureau of Investigation in 2017. The police has also sent a request to the government seeking permission to suspend the other two, who are of senior rank.
The development comes close on the heels of the Home department granting sanction to the CBI to prosecute six Mumbai Police officers. While a formal request for the sanction was sent by the CBI during the previous government’s tenure, the sanction was officially granted to the agency on Thursday.
A senior officer with the Mumbai Police said that police inspector Sanjiv Tawde posted with the Special Branch, assistant police inspectors Kakasaheb Shinde and Anant Jadhav posted with Local Arms division and V.P. Road police station respectively. and police sub inspector Rekha Saikar with Local Arms were suspended on Saturday. The other two officers accused in the case are Assistant Commissioners of Police Prashant Marde and Subhash Sawant. Mr. Marde is currently posted with the control room, while Mr. Sawant is posted in the Force One, officers said.
“As officers of ACP rank and above can not be suspended without the State government’s nod, we have sent a request to the Home Department and are awaiting their response,” the officer said.
The CBI had in March 2018 filed an offence against the six officers following orders of the Bombay High Court. The matter went to court after real estate developers Jude and Dominic Rommel were arrested by the Dahisar police for allegedly assaulting and intimidating occupants of a plot of land that they had purchased. After getting bail, the duo approached the HC alleging that the Dahisar police, in collusion with the occupants, had tried to implicate them in a false case so that the 16-acre plot could be grabbed.
The subsequent investigation by the CBI showed indications of corruption as well as high-handedness on part of the police.
Five months back, the CBI sought a prosecution sanction from the State government. Any case of corruption against a government servant needs a sanction from their department heads, as per provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
The sanction, however, was only granted after the new government came to power and Home Minister Anil Deshmukh took charge of his current post.
Published - February 16, 2020 01:22 am IST
