Five policemen suspended for giving special treatment to accused

Five police personnel, including an assistant inspector, have been suspended for giving special treatment to two assault case accused by keeping them in officer's rooms instead of the lockup. The officers were supposed to lodge the accused in the Kanakia police station lockup but did not.

MUMBAI: Five police personnel, including an assistant inspector, were suspended by Mira-Bhayander-Vasai-Virar (MBVV) police commissioner for allegedly giving special treatment to two accused arrested in an assault case.

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According to the police, the officers were suspended for allegedly keeping the accused and his aide in the officer’s rooms instead of the lockup even after they were remanded to police custody by Thane court. The police personnel were supposed to lodge the accused in the Kanakia police station lockup but did not.

The case was registered against the accused Anil Chheda and one of his associates in February this year. Chheda, who is the owner of Top-10 Mobiles in Shanti Nagar at Mira Road, was arrested for allegedly assaulting the driver of an MBVV transport undertaking bus and the driver had filed a case against him and his aide, who was arrested by Naya Nagar police and remanded to police custody by the local court.

Since the Naya Nagar police do not have a lock-up, the accused were taken to the Kanakia Nagar police lock-up at night for all seven days of their police custody remand. Four constables identified as Rameshwar Tarde, Baburao Garud, Vijendra Divekar and Kailash Thosar were posted on guard duty for the accused at the police station. Assistant police inspector Milind Borse of Kanakia police station allegedly asked Chheda and his aide to be kept in rooms and cabins meant for police officers, located on the first floor of the police station, instead of the lock-up on the ground floor.

After the complaint against the officials reached the superiors, an inquiry was set up by the police commissioner Madhukar Pandey. After scanning through the CCTV recordings of the police station and the lockup, it was confirmed that the two accused were not inside the lockup and were moving freely in rooms and cabins meant for police officers.

Based on the report, the five officers were suspended for not complying with the norms and giving special treatment to the accused. “The five have been suspended by the commissioner while Chheda and his aide have been released on bail,” said a police officer from Naya Nagar police station.