DCP routed extortion money through hawala, aide held from Lucknow: Police

The application said the person to whom a major portion of the extorted amount was given on the instruction of Tripathi has been identified and an amount of ₹1.5 lakh has been recovered from him.

Mumbai: Deputy commissioner of police Saurabh Tripathi allegedly used hawala channels to route money extorted from angadias in Mumbai to Lucknow, an investigation by the Mumbai police has revealed. Mumbai crime branch has also identified and arrested the person who received the money in Lucknow.

Wangate, who was arrested on March 10, was produced before a local court on Saturday, as his earlier custody remand ended. (HT Photo)

In their statements, the victims and others concerned, have stated that the arrested police officials, including inspector Om Wangate and two of his subordinates -- assistant inspector Nitin Kadam and sub-inspector Samadhan Jamdade -- allegedly extorted about ₹19 lakh from them, the crime branch has said in the remand application seeking extension of Wangate’s custody.

The application said the person to whom a major portion of the extorted amount was given on the instruction of Tripathi has been identified and an amount of ₹1.5 lakh has been recovered from him.

It added that the extorted amount was sent to Lucknow through hawala channels and the investigators have recovered the original documents of the transactions. The arrested person was being brought to Mumbai on transit remand, CB said.

Wangate, who was arrested on March 10, was produced before a local court on Saturday, as his earlier custody remand ended.

The crime branch sought an extension of his custody by pointing out the progress made in the probe. The police inspector’s counsel, advocate Vinod Chate, strenuously opposed the plea. Chate pointed out that sufficient time was given by the court for his custodial interrogate him and therefore his police custody should not be extended.

The court, however, remanded Wangate to judicial custody till March 23.

DCP Tripathi, an Indian Police Service (IPS) officer, was recently named as accused in the angadia extortion case registered at LT Marg police station on February 18, following allegations by local angdia association that acting at the behest of Tripathi, the police officers detained their employees on four different occasions in December 2021 and extorted money from them by threatening to take action against them and report them to the Income Tax department.

Tripathi has approached the sessions court for anticipatory bail. His plea is expected to come up for hearing on March 23.