Hours after a constable with the Mankhurd police station was arrested by the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) for graft, the Mumbai Police top brass on Wednesday transferred two of his superiors to the Mumbai Police Control Room.
According to ACB officials, the constable, Chandrakant Ghadge, was posted with the Mankhurd police and was part of a team investigating a recent case of dacoity in the police station’s jurisdiction. Ghadge allegedly demanded Rs. 1 lakh from the complainant, a resident of Mankhurd, failing which he threatened to implicate the complainant’s cousin in the case.
The complainant approached the ACB, and the agency set about verifying the compainant’s claims. In subsequent telephonic conversations between the complainant and Ghadge, which were monitored by the ACB, Ghadge allegedly demanded the money again and brought it down to Rs. 90,000 after negotiation.
“Ghadge asked the complainant to pay him the first instalment of Rs. 50,000 on Wednesday. A meeting was fixed at the Ramlingam Bar and Restaurant near the Mandala beat chowky in Mankhurd. Accordingly, we laid a trap and arrested Ghadge after he accepted Rs. 50,000 from the complainant on Wednesday afternoon,” said an ACB officer.
Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) Deven Bharti confirmed that Sheikh and the investigating officer, an Assistant Police Inspector, had been transferred to the control room.
