Police Inspector Anand Bhoir had earned a reputation of being a flamboyant cop
A police officer from the elite Crime Branch of the Mumbai Police has been arrested by the Anti-Corruption Bureau for taking a bribe of Rs 22 lakh. Several properties linked to the inspector have been searched and the police are investigating how he managed to acquire these them.
Police Inspector Anand Bhoir had earned a reputation of being a flamboyant cop and his Facebook profile boasts of stylish pictures and posts about several operations he has been involved in.
The allegation against the inspector is that he harassed relatives of a wine shop owner to avoid arresting an accused and demanded Rs 25 lakh and settled for Rs 22 lakh.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Milind Desai told NDTV, "At a pre-determined spot near the Andheri Kurla Junction in suburban Mumbai, the complainant signaled to us that the accused had accepted the bribe and the money was handed over to him. Immediately we intercepted the car, arrested him and produced him."
According to the complainant, who has two sons, he was being harassed after the inspector had made arrests in a separate case and got the accused to name his son as an accomplice in the case. But since the son who was booked was abroad the inspector handcuffed his other son and took him to the office under the pretext of conducting searches. The complainant then approached the Anti-Corruption Bureau and a trap was laid to catch the inspector who was allegedly extorting money.
The complainant, Ashok Patel told NDTV, "He told us to cough up 25 lakhs or he would get our license cancelled and book us as well. He once made me wait for two hours on the pretext of questioning me and after that we agreed to settle the matter with him."
According to the Anti-Corruption Bureau sources, the arrested police inspector preferred being addressed as 'Naya Nayak', a moniker that's a take on flamboyant encounter cop from Mumbai, Daya Nayak, on whose life the Bollywood film 'Ab Tak Chappan' was loosely based.
Based on the investigation so far, Anti-Corruption Bureau officials say they are carrying out searches to determine how much property he has illegally amassed and may consider filing a disproportionate assets case depending on the evidence they manage to uncover.