Suspended Addl DGP Quaiser Khalid skips ACB summons

The agency had summoned the IPS officer in connection with a complaint by a scrap dealer, who alleged that he had taken ₹37 lakh in lieu of contracts for hoardings on railway police land, which were never awarded

MUMBAI: Former additional director general of police Quaiser Khalid, who was suspended over his alleged involvement in the May 13, 2024 Ghatkopar hoarding collapse case, failed to appear before the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Wednesday. The agency had summoned him in connection with a complaint by a scrap dealer, who alleged that the officer had taken ₹37 lakh from him in 2022 in lieu of awarding contracts to erect hoardings on railway police land. The contracts were never awarded, the scrap dealer claimed.

Suspended Addl DGP Quaiser Khalid skips ACB summons

“We had summoned the suspended IPS officer, but he has sought more time to appear before us,” an ACB official told Hindustan Times. The agency initiated an inquiry against Khalid in July last year, following the complaint lodged by the scrap dealer, said sources.

In his four-page hand-written complaint, the Saki Naka based scrap dealer claimed he was introduced to Khalid in February 2022, when the IPS officer was commissioner of Government Railway Police (GRP) in Mumbai. After initial meetings, when the complainant told Khalid that we was into the hoarding business as well, the officer promised to award him the contract to erect hoardings near Tilak Bridge in Dadar and in the railway police colony in Pant Nagar in Ghatkopar East.

The scrap dealer further stated that in August 2022, Khalid messaged him, asking him to book a hotel for him near John F Kennedy International Airport in New York, which he complied with. He also spent around $6,100 ( ₹5,00,000) on shopping for the officer, which the latter did not return contrary to his promises.

In September 2022, Khalid asked the complainant to transfer around $2,000 ( ₹1,70,000) to his relative in the United States, saying it would be adjusted with the contract for hoardings, which was being processed.

In November 2022, Khalid asked the complainant to deposit ₹20 lakh in a bank account. When the complainant expressed his inability to undertake banking transactions, he sent a certain Arshad to collect the money is cash, the scrap dealer said in the complaint.

“In December, the IPS officer promised the scrap dealer that the contract for hoardings would be awarded after the assembly polls and acknowledged that he had received ₹37 lakh from him,” a police officer told HT.

In December 2022, when the complainant met Khalid at his home, he was told that several complaints had been raised against him in the assembly, and therefore the contract would not be awarded to him. The IPS officer promised he would return the money but when the complainant asked for it, he threatened him, he stated in the complaint.

“The complainant claims Khalid misused his authority and post, violated service rules and cheated him. We are probing the matter,” said the police officer.