‘Why no FIR against Crime Branch officials despite proof?’

Why was no first information report (FIR) lodged against two Mumbai Crime Branch officials, despite there being evidence against them? This is what the Bombay High Court asked the Anti-Corruption Bureau on Tuesday.

Why was no first information report (FIR) lodged against two Mumbai Crime Branch officials, despite there being evidence against them?

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This is what the Bombay High Court asked the Anti-Corruption Bureau on Tuesday.

The alleged corruption complaint was against Crime Branch officials Anil Mahabole and Rajendra Nikam.

The court made the observation while hearing a petition, seeking an independent probe in an extortion case involving fugitive gangster Dawood Ibrahim’s sister Haseena Parkar.

The order on the petition has been reserved.

Real estate developer Sandeep Shukla filed the petition seeking an independent inquiry in a case registered against him and his brother Krishnamilan Shukla.

The Anti-Extortion Cell (AEC) was investigating the case against Haseena Parkar and the Shukla brothers for allegedly trying to extort money from another developer Vinod Avlani and real estate broker Chandresh Shah.

Avlani had lodged a complaint with the Crime Branch unit 1 in December 2006 against Shukla and Parkar that they had not returned Rs 30 lakh they owed him.

Avlani and Shah had purportedly paid Rs 1 crore to the Shuklas to develop a slum rehabilitation scheme in Wadala. Parkar allegedly played middleman and the demand draft of Rs 1 crore was left with her.

Instead of lodging an FIR, Mahabole and Nikam approached the Shuklas demanding Rs 10 lakh to settle the matter. At that point, the Shuklas approached the ACB, who caught Mahabole accepting the initial installment of Rs 1.5 lakh.

Shukla also questioned why a mobile phone, provided by his associate Chandresh Shah to the then deputy commissioner of police (Detection) Dhananjay Kamlakar, was not seized, and why an inquiry not initiated against him.

Another Nokia N-series mobile given to Mahabole has been seized.