Mumbai:
Ace Mumbai police officer Ramesh Mahale, who has investigated some of the most high- profile cases including the 26/11 terror attacks, the recent Azad Maidan riots and the murder of MiD DAY's Investigations Editor J Dey, has resigned from the force.
The Mumbai police department was abuzz with rumours following Mahale's transfer, but none of the senior officials came on record to confirm the report.
Sources in the Crime Branch revealed that Mahale broke the news to his superiors last afternoon by submitting his resignation. However, senior officials are yet to accept his resignation. Mahale has reportedly told some of the officers that he was resigning due to tremendous work pressure. "Mahale who is a master in compiling court cases, had been given the responsibility of many high profile cases," said a Crime Branch official.
Mahale was handpicked by the Crime Branch to head a special investigating team (SIT) to look into the broad daylight murder of Navi Mumbai builder Loharia after the Navi Mumbai police failed to make any breakthrough. "There was constant pressure on him to prove himself all the time," he added.
However, some officers still find it hard to believe that Mahale is resigning owing to work pressure. "This is the silliest reason that can be given by an officer of such calibre. There is a strong possibility that he had some difference of opinion, and took an abrupt decision," added another officer. DCP Satyanarayan Chaudhary, official spokesperson of Mumbai Police, said, "I will have to check on this and get back to you."
Body of workMahale, who was the chief investigating officer in the 26/11 attacks, put together the 11,350-page chargesheet that led to the hanging of Ajmal Qasab. He had also accompanied Qasab when he was taken to Pune for his execution. Mahale, an officer from the 1983 batch, had also assisted in the probe into the Dadar explosion in the 1993 bomb blasts.