Mumbai:
"The encounter campaign against the underworld hasn't ended. In fact, it can be said it is going to restart now," said encounter specialist Ravindranath Angre (52), making his intentions clear after rejoining the police force yesterday.
Angre was acquitted by the Sessions Court in the 2008 case of allegedly threatening a Thane-based builder.
Builder Mahesh Wagh had complained to the police in 2008 that Angre was extorting money from him. Wagh had alleged that Angre wanted to make his wife a partner in his business. He had said that Angre had forced him to sign a blank paper and had taken away two cars belonging to him. Angre had surrendered to the police after evading arrest for a long time.
Immediately after being acquitted, Angre alleged that he was framed and said, "I was framed in the case as all the encounter specialists were being targeted systematically. I will continue my campaign against the underworld."
Angre will join his batchmate Praful Bhosle, who is among the few encounter specialists of the illustrious 1983 batch left in the Mumbai Police.
A brief glance at the encounter killings of more than 600 gangsters over the past few decades reveals that almost every incident involved a sub-inspector of the 1983 batch.
The encounter specialists in the batch included the late Vijay Salaskar, Pradeep Sharma, Vinayak Saude, Anant Kenjale and Aslam Momin.
Angre was named in over 50 encounters and some of his important targets included Suresh Manchekar and Chikna Babu.