QRT armourer, who fired at two cousins, suspended

“After a preliminary inquiry on constable Suraj Devram Dhokre, 37, has been suspended,” said a senior police officer. Joint commissioner of police, Law and Order, Mumbai Police, Satyanarayan Chaudhary, confirmed the development

MUMBAI: The Quick Response Team (QRT) armourer who fired at the two cousins in Bhiwandi, resulting in the death of one of them, has been suspended by the Mumbai Police. The police have also started an inquiry as how the constable took the Glock 19 service gun and bullets to rob the two in Padgha, as he was posted at the Yellow Gate QRT office in South Mumbai.

Suraj Devram Dhokre

“After a preliminary inquiry on constable Suraj Devram Dhokre, 37, has been suspended,” said a senior police officer. Joint commissioner of police, Law and Order, Mumbai Police, Satyanarayan Chaudhary, confirmed the development.

On October 13, Suraj Dhokre chased two youths on a red CBZ bike and fired at them in Bhiwandi. The injured, Feroze Rafiq Shaikh, 27, and Azim Aslam Syed, 30, were admitted to Sion Hospital for treatment. In this case, the Thane Rural Padgha police team started an investigation and registered a case under section 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code.

“The constable fired two rounds at Feroz and six rounds at his cousin brother Azim. Dhokre was picked up from Kolhar village in Ahmednagar, arranging a naka-bandi, he was traced with the help of technical evidence and CCTV cameras. The Glock 19 pistol used by the accused Dhokre was also seized,” said the police officer.

According to the police, Dhokre works with the Quick Response Team (QRT) formed after the 26/11 terror attacks in the city and is attached to the Naigaon Mumbai Police headquarters. He has done an armoury course and takes care of weapons of QRT south region and sits near the Yellow Gate police station in South Mumbai.

“The two victims were going to Malegaon on a bike from Virar when Dhokre asked them the route for Padgha, they asked him to follow them. At an isolated place he came ahead of them and asked their names and fired at them,” said a police officer.

Both were rushed to Sion Hospital, where Azim died on Wednesday, and the police have registered a murder case against the policeman.

The Thane Rural police investigating the case had also said that Dhokre had loans worth ₹40 lakhs to be repaid due to online gambling, and he aimed to commit robbery to earn easy money.

Meanwhile, the Mumbai Police are enquiring from where Dhokre took the bullets from. “We are checking from where he took so many bullets and an inquiry is underway, he is suspended for now,” said the police officer.