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Mumbai cop arrested in Mansukh Hiran murder case was suspended earlier too
Police inspector Sunil Mane had cleared the MPSC (Maharashtra Public Service Commission) exam in 1995 to become a police officer
Police inspector Sunil Mane had cleared the MPSC (Maharashtra Public Service Commission) exam in 1995 to become a police officer. Born and brought up in Mumbai, Mane completed his graduation from a Goregaon-based college in 1993.
After completing his training from Nashik Police Training Academy in 1996, he was first posted at Oshiwara police station as a sub-inspector.
Two years later, he was posted in Mumbai crime branch’s unit 8 at Dharavi. In 2001, he was transferred to the crime intelligence unit (CIU).
Mane was placed under suspension for two years in early 2000s after the anti-corruption bureau (ACB), Mumbai, registered a case against him in a bribery case. He was later reinstated and posted in the local arms division and then in 2005, transferred to the anti-terrorism squad’s (ATS) unit in Juhu. During his posting at the unit, he completed his LLB from a Vile Parle-based college.
Mane was promoted as assistant police inspector in 2008 and became came to limelight in January 2009, after arresting senior IPS (Indian Police Service) officer Saji Mohan in a drugs case.
After receiving information that two men were coming to handover a drugs consignment in Oshiwara, Mane and his team laid a trap and arrested businessmen Vicky Oberoi and Rajesh Kumar Kataria, and seized 1.85kg of heroin from them. During interrogation, they confessed that they were working for Mohan, who was then posted at the Narcotics Control Bureau. Mane then arrested Mohan and seized 12kg of heroin from him. After his interrogation, an additional 25kg of heroin was seized by ATS from a godown in Vasai.
Oberoi became an approver in the case, and in 2019, Mohan was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment, while Kataria got 13 years in jail.
Mane was selected for the prestigious FICCI Award in recognition of distinguished service in the anti-smuggling and anti-counterfeiting category.
After spending six-seven years in ATS, Mane served in several crime branch units. He also worked as an inspector at Sakinaka police station for some time.
Last May, he was transferred from unit 10 to modus operandi bureau (MOB), considered to be a side posting, after a businessman alleged that Mane and one of his senior officers demanded ₹50 lakh from him. When the businessman refused to pay them, he was allegedly arrested in a cheating case.
A few months later, Mane was transferred from MOB and became the incharge of unit 11 of the crime branch.
On March 23, Mane’s name appeared in the list of 65 officers who were shunted out of the crime branch as part of a ‘clean-up’ drive, and was posted in a local arms division.
Mane’s father retired from the motor transport department as a police inspector. His elder brother is also in the force and is currently serving as an assistant sub-inspector in Mumbai. Mane lives in Malad (West) along with his wife and two sons.
Like suspended cop Sachin Vaze, Mane was also said to be a favourite officer of former Mumbai Police commissioner Param Bir Singh, under whose supervision he had cracked some important cases in ATS, including the Mohan case.
