This would probably be the first bribe, of merely Rs 5,000, that came from Dubai. And here a poor mother had to make her daughter send this money immediately to get her son out of the lockup.
The Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Tuesday arrested a constable from the Malwani police station on charges of accepting Rs 5,000 from an autorickshaw driver. Moreover, it was not a trap but recorded conversation between the driver Javed Sheikh and constable Sunil Vinerkar that made the job of the ACB easy as an earlier trap had failed.
The case details goes back to August when Sheikh was picked up by the Malwani police under section 151 of Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC) which deals with preventive detention.
ACB officers said that Sheikh, a resident of Malwani, used to give and also some times take money on loan in the area. He had taken Rs 15,000 from a person called Raja and was unable to return the same on time. Raja informed the Malwani police about it and on August 24, a team from the police station picked up Sheikh. The police asked him to give details of the money he had taken from various people. His clarification went o deaf ears and he was put in the lock up in the night.
Constable Vinerkar spoke to Sheikh and asked him to arrange Rs 7,000 to be paid to his superiors so that they would allow him to walk free in the morning. Sheikh informed his mother about the money and asked her to arrange the amount.
{{/usCountry}}Constable Vinerkar spoke to Sheikh and asked him to arrange Rs 7,000 to be paid to his superiors so that they would allow him to walk free in the morning. Sheikh informed his mother about the money and asked her to arrange the amount.
{{/usCountry}}As there was no money at home, she called her daughter in Dubai and asked her to help. Rupees 5,000 was transferred through a private bank immediately. Sheikh convinced Vinerkar to settle the matter for Rs 5,000 who agreed and released him in the morning.
However, while letting him go, Vinerkar asked him to pay another Rs 1,000 so that he is not troubled in the future.
Sheikh bought some time by promising to pay the amount on September 5. He approached the ACB on September 4. On the day Sheikh spoke to Vinerkar on phone and the same was tapped. Next day the ACB laid a trap in Malwani when Vinerkar was supposed to collect the amount. However, Vinerkar could not come on the said date and the trap failed. As there was no meeting between the two subsequently for Rs 1,000, the ACB decided to use the conversation as evidence and arrested Vinerkar. He initially refused that he had taken Rs 5,000 but when he was made to hear the cassette that had his voice, he accepted taking bribe.
He was produced before the Special Anti-Corruption court on Wednesday which remanded him to ACB custody till December 27.
When contacted Additional Deputy Commissioner of ACB, Mumbai, Vilas Tupe confirmed the arrest.
Email Manish Pachouly: manish.pachouly@hindustantimes.com