Angadia extortion case: Suspended DCP questioned by CIU

Mumbai Suspended deputy commissioner of police Saurabh Tripathi, along with his lawyer advocate Vinod Chate, appeared before the officer investigating the Angadia extortion case

Mumbai Suspended deputy commissioner of police Saurabh Tripathi, along with his lawyer advocate Vinod Chate, appeared before the officer investigating the Angadia extortion case.

Mumbai, India - March 22, 2022: Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Saurabh Tripathi suspended by Maharashtra home department after being booked in the Angadia extortion case, in Mumbai, India, on Tuesday, March 22, 2022. (HT Photo) (Hindustan Times)

In his statement, given on Wedneday, to the Criminal Intelligence Unit (CIU) of Mumbai crime branch, the agency investigating the case, the Indian Police Service (IPS) officer claimed he has been falsely implicated in the case.

Tripathi appeared before investigating officer, pursuant to the orders passed by Bombay high court on November 4 while granting him interim protection from arrest, but his statement was recorded at an undisclosed location – apparently to avoid media attention. Tripathi had approached the high court after the sessions court had rejected his anticipatory bail plea on October 19.

Tripathi, who was wanted in the alleged extortion case for around nine months, appeared before the investigating officer at about 11am. His questioning went on for hours, said Mumbai police spokesperson and deputy commissioner of police Balsing Rajput. Tripathi has been asked to appear before the officer again on Thursday, he added.

According to an officer who is part of the investigating team, they have sufficient evidence against Tripathi in the case which indicate that Angadias visited the DCP Zone 2 office in Nagpada and Tripathi’s house in Worli to negotiate monthly amount to be paid by them. “There was a chat between him and police inspector Om Wangate wherein Tripathi had purportedly enquired as to how their collection from Angadias was going on,” the officer revvealed.

The FIR in the Angadia extortion case was registered after the Bhuleshwar Angadia Association had on December 7, 2021 lodged a complaint. In the first complaint, the association had alleged that some police officers had tried to extort money from them.

On the instructions of the then Mumbai police commissioner Hemant Nagrale, additional commissioner of police Dilip Sawant had conducted an inquiry into the allegations of the association and based on his report, a case was registered at LT Marg police station on February 18 this year against three police officers - Om Wangate, Nitin Kadam and Samadhan Jamdade – all attached to the same police station.

Tripathi, who was the DCP of Zone II at that time, went incommunicado the very next day and was named as an accused after Wangate allegedly revealed his name during interrogation, saying he acted on Tripathi’s instructions.

Wangate and the two other officers were arrested on March 16. On May 9, the sessions court granted them bail.

The state government has suspended Tripathi on March 22 after he avoided the police.