Investigating officer of GRP extortion case on the run after being booked for bribery

His lawyer was caught accepting bribe on his behalf. After learning of his arrest, the officer has gone absconding

Mumbai: Inspector Rohit Sawant, the investigation officer of the Government Railway Police (GRP) extortion cases, has gone absconding after it was found that his aide had accepted a ₹5-lakh bribe, on his behalf, from one of the accused in the case.

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According to the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), one of the accused in the GRP extortion case approached the them claiming that Sawant, attached to the GRP crime branch, had demanded ₹10 lakh and threatened to frame him if the amount was not paid. On Tuesday, the ACB laid a trap to red-handedly catch him accepting a bribe. “Sawant’s lawyer, Arunkumar Singh, had come to collect the money. After the complainant gave him ₹5 lakh, Singh called Sawant to inform him that he had collected the first installment and that the second installment was negotiated for ₹4.5 lakh,” said a police officer. Subsequently, Singh was arrested. “On learning about Singh’s arrest, Sawant has one absconding,” the officer added.

GRP extortion case

The extortion racket that targeted long-distance train passengers, came to light when multiple incidents of extortion by GRP personnel were reported. The accused allegedly threatened travellers with false cases, coerced them into dimly lit rooms at railway stations with no CCTV cameras, and forced them to surrender their cash, jewellery, or valuables. After finding a pattern, the police conducted an inquiry and found that several personnel, in nexus with robbers, had been targeting businessmen and passengers on long-distance trains to extort them. Subsequently, 16 GRP personnel were suspended and transferred.