(Reproduced
from the The Times of India December 03, 2007
frontpage )
Cops frame,
beat trader for bribe
S Ahmed Ali | TNN
Mumbai: A small-time transporter was allegedly
kidnapped by two police officers attached to the MRA
Marg police station in south Mumbai and detained
illegally in the lockup for two days. Worse, he was
brutally beaten up, which left his left ear drum
badly damaged.
The victim, Narendra Patel (35), was also turned away
from the staterun JJ hospital, which said it was a
“police case’’. He was later treated
at Byculla’s Masina hospital.
Deputy commissioner of police (Zone 1) Brijesh Singh
has initiated an inquiry after Patel’s wife
Rambabai, accompanied by a social worker, lodged a
complaint. MRA Marg senior inspector Sunil Babar
rubbished Patel’s allegations. “We had
detained him for interrogation in a theft case. He
had come to sell stolen crockery items when police
caught him. A theft case has been lodged and we will
arrest him,’’ he said.
When asked why Patel was allowed to leave after two
days of police detention, Babar said that he (Patel)
was “not keeping well and wanted medical
treatment’’.
The bizarre incident occurred on November 26 when
Patel was waiting at the tempo stand at Dockyard
Road. “It was 4 pm when three men came up to me
and hired my three-wheeler, saying they wanted to
transport some luggage to Crawford Market. While one
of them called Nasir loaded 29 cartons onto the
tempo, two others, who were later identified as
policemen Chopde and Gujjar, took me to MRA Marg
police station,’’ Patel told TOI.
He alleged that the two cops handed him over to
inspector Ravindra Doipude, who began assaulting him
with blows and kicks to the extent that one of his
ear drums started bleeding. “Doipude wanted me
to confess that I had stolen the goods. I told him
that I was being framed by the cops who knew that I
was innocent, and that the goods were dumped in my
tempo by the policemen themselves, but he refused to
listen.’’
“Patel requested the policemen to take him to
the hospital, but they refused,’’ said
Rambabai. Finally, the next day, policemen demanded
Rs 50,000 to release him and his tempo.
WHO’LL
POLICE THE POLICE?
2003 | Manohar Bajaj, a
businessman from Turner Road in Bandra,
was kidnapped by four police officers
attached to DCP (Zone 6) Sudesh
Padvi’s squad. The police officer
allegedly kidnapped him from his office,
threatened to book him in a false case
and then demanded a sum of Rs 10 lakh.
The policemen were later arrested 2004 | Four policemen
from the local arms and motor transport
divisions kidnapped Bhuleshwar
businessman Suresh Patel on the pretext
of arresting him in a fake currency scam.
They took him to a remote place in Powai
and fled with his diamonds
Narendra
Patel, the transporter who was picked up
by the cops on a theft chargeand severely
beaten up. His left ear drum has been
damaged
Cops in
cover-up bid: Social worker
Mumbai: Narendra Patel, a
transporter, alleges that the MRA Marg police framed
him and beat him up badly. They then demanded Rs
50,000 to free him and release his tempo, he says.
“My wife managed to arrange Rs 10,000, which was
handed over to a tea vendor outside the police
station as directed. But they have still not released
my tempo,’’ said Patel.
Patel was released on November 28 after which he went
to JJ Hospital to get admitted, but the hospital
refused to take him, insisting on a letter from the
police. Finally, Patel got admitted at Masina
hospital where doctors confirmed that his left ear
drum had been damaged and have given an estimate of
Rs 1 lakh to repair it.
Social worker Roshanlal Jain, who is attached to the
Jain Yuva Sangh, said, “Now that the inquiry has
began, the police has registered a case of theft
against Patel to shield themselves. They have been
calling us and are requesting us to take our
complaint back. The DCP himself had called the tea
vendor who has confessed that he had accepted the
money on behalf of the policemen.’’
