Cop may face action for underworld links

A constable from J.J. Marg police station is under the scanner for his alleged links with Asif Khan alias Dadhi who escaped a shoot-out at Bhendi Bazaar on February 11.

A constable from J.J. Marg police station is under the scanner for his alleged links with Asif Khan alias Dadhi who escaped a shoot-out at Bhendi Bazaar on February 11.

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Two people were killed in the incident while Dadhi was injured.

Dadhi has been booked under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) twice in the past for his suspected links with underworld don, Chhota Shakeel.

Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order), Himanshu Roy, had indicated possible action against the constable during a crime conference held last week for officers above the rank of senior inspector.

Roy directed the senior inspector of J.J. Marg police station to prepare a default report against the constable. “I am waiting for the default report before putting the errant constable under suspension,” Roy told Hindustan Times.

The suspension will be followed by a detailed inquiry into the constable’s conduct. If it found that he was linked with criminals, he may face dismissal.

Sources in the Mumbai police said that the constable came under Roy’s scrutiny on the day of the shoot-out when Roy spotted a motorcycle bearing a ‘police’ sticker on its rear number plate.

He found that the vehicle belonged to a constable from J.J. Marg police station.

Dadhi was sitting on the stationary bike when the assailants drove past on two motorcycles, spraying bullets from automatic weapons.

Roy found that the constable was a regular at Dadhi’s office and would often be seen chatting with Dadhi’s friends.

Last month, five policemen, including a deputy commissioner of police and an assistant commissioner of police, were suspended for attending a Christmas Eve party organised by a suspected henchman of gangster Chhota Rajan.