Police constable caught while smuggling Gutkha suspended

A Mumbai police constable has been suspended after being caught smuggling gutkha and pan masala in a private car. He was arrested with a haul worth ₹2.8 lakh.

MUMBAI: A 32-year-old police constable who was caught smuggling gutkha, pan masala and other prohibited articles was suspended by the Mumbai Police on Tuesday. The constable, sources said, used to smuggle gutka in a private sedan from Gujarat, using a ‘police’ board and was caught on a tip-off by the Palghar crime branch last month.

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The suspended policeman was identified as Mosim Sharif Shaikh, 32, a resident of Aarey Milk Colony, Goregaon East. Shaikh works with the local arms unit, Naigaon, Dadar East of Mumbai Police.

According to police, on October 4, the Palghar police crime branch stopped a sedan bearing police signage near Charoti Toll Naka on the Mumbai Gujrat Highway following a tip-off. “The policeman himself was driving the car. He showed the crime branch officers his identity card when they stopped him. However, as the team suspected some foul play, they checked his car’s trunk and found banned material like gutkha and pan masala worth ₹2.8 lakh,” said a police officer.

Shaikh and his aide Sachin Gaikwad, an auto driver, were arrested and booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.

“As Shaikh was arrested under the Maharashtra Police (Punishments and Appeals) Rules, 1956 we have suspended him from service,” said the police officer.