HC grants pre-arrest bail to 3 GRP personnel booked for extorting jeweller

Their counsel Aniket Nikam contented that the allegations in the complaint against them were “over-exaggerated.”

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Monday granted anticipatory bail to three suspended Government Railway Police (GRP) personnel accused of threatening and extorting ₹30,000 from a jeweller and his daughter at Mumbai Central railway station last month.

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Justice Nitin R Borkar, while hearing the plea of officers Rahul Bhosale, Lalit Jagtap, and Anil Rathod, accepted their counsel Aniket Nikam’s contention that the allegations in the complaint against them were “over-exaggerated.”

The court ordered that, in the event of arrest, the trio should be released on personal bonds of ₹25,000 each. They have also been directed not to contact witnesses and to cooperate with the investigating officer this week.

The FIR was registered based on a complaint filed by a Rajasthan-based jeweller. He alleged that on August 10, the officers, one of whom was not wearing an identity badge, stopped him and his daughter before their travel to Rajasthan. After a bag check, the police reportedly found ₹31,900 in cash and a 14-gram gold piece.

The jeweller claimed the officers took him inside a room, threatened him with jail time, and forced him to sign a document. He alleged that while the gold and ₹1,900 were returned, ₹30,000 was taken by the policemen.

Five days later, after reaching his hometown, he filed a complaint, following which the matter was transferred to the Mumbai police. The government lawyer argued the delay was due to his travel. The prosecution also highlighted that the officers had failed to follow mandatory procedures, such as recording the search in the register or conducting it under CCTV surveillance, instead carrying it out inside a room.

Earlier, a sessions court had rejected their bail plea. Additional Sessions Judge Prashant Kale had observed that custodial interrogation was necessary to uncover the truth, and granting them relief at that stage would give them a sense of protection.