Cop held for accepting `25,000 bribe

An inspector from the Azad Maidan police station was caught red-handed by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Friday while accepting a Rs25,000 bribe from a diamond jewellery trader.

An inspector from the Azad Maidan police station was caught red-handed by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Friday while accepting a Rs25,000 bribe from a diamond jewellery trader.

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Police inspector Yashwant Shankar Thorawade had threatened to implicate the trader in a case. According to the ACB, the trader operated from a rented shop in Fort. In September, following disputes with the landlord over the leave and licence agreement, the trader moved out of the shop and began operating from his house in Santacruz (East).

Meanwhile, another trader who had business ties with the first trader, lodged a complaint at the Azad Maidan police station, suspecting that the latter had fled.
The first trader moved the metropolitan magistrate’s court for anticipatory bail. The court directed him to present himself before the investigating officer (IO) at Azad Maidan police station.

The trader presented himself before the IO, who in turn took him to Thorawade. Thorawade allegedly threatened to implicate him . He asked the trader to meet him privately.

The trader approached the ACB. On the ACB’s instruction, the trader spoke to Thorawade who demanded Rs 50,000 in equal instalments to settle the case.

On Friday, the trader went to the Azad Maidan police station to pay Rs25,000 to Thorawade. As he was receiving the amount, ACB sleuths, who had laid a trap, caught him and arrested him.