Days before his retirement, senior PI arrested in bribery case

MUMBAI: A senior police inspector was arrested for accepting a ₹1 lakh bribe to protect a school from trespassers amid a land dispute.

MUMBAI: A senior police inspector of Shivaji Nagar police station in the eastern suburbs was arrested by the anti-corruption bureau (ACB) on Tuesday for allegedly accepting a bribe of ₹1 lakh from a complainant. The accused cop, Bapurao Deshmukh, was set to retire by the end of May.

Days before his retirement, senior PI arrested in bribery case

The complainant is a secretary of a trust that runs a school in Shivaji Nagar. According to the police, the school lies on a disputed land. In August last year, unidentified people allegedly forcefully entered the school premises after breaking its locks. The secretary approached the charity commissioner’s office and the Shivaji Nagar police to file a complaint against the trespassers.

On April 22, 2025, Deshmukh met the complainant and told him that he would protect the establishment from future trespasses if the school paid him ₹5 lakh. “The complainant explained to him that he was merely a worker at the trust and that the complaint was genuine,” an ACB officer said. “The senior inspector then told them to pay ₹3 lakh.”

After consulting with the trustees, who were against bribing, the secretary approached the ACB on Tuesday. ACB officials verified the complaint when they witnessed the policeman negotiate with the secretary and settle for ₹2.5 lakh. The same day, he was caught red handed through a CCTV footage showing him accept the first instalment of ₹1 lakh in his cabin. Deshmukh was arrested under section 7 (public servants taking gratification other than legal remuneration for an official act) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988.

Deshmukh was produced before a special ACB court which remanded him to police custody till Friday.