Ahmedabad
Mirror: Ahmedabad: Tuesday, 30 September 2014.
The struggle of an alert young citizen to get the
details of a police raid only adds to the speculations on police-bootlegger
Kamlesh Bhaiya nexus that are doing the rounds in the city. Twenty-two-year-old
Saraspur resident Sagar Patel, who filed an application under RTI Act at the
police commissioner's office on August 27, has been made to run from one office
to another to get reply. But far from being demotivated, he has resolved to
pursue the matter and take it to conclusion. According to a police source,
Patel, who has studied only till class 8, had filed the application on August
27 at the police commissioner's office. The commissioner's office told him he
would get the reply from Shaherkotda police station. However, the police
station told him on September 22 that reply can be provided to him only by the
police commissioner's office."
DETERMINED TO GET DETAILS
Despite being directed from one place to another,
Patel is determined to get details. He will once again visit the police
commissioner's office and seek reply. "I had gone to the police
commissioner's office on August 25. However, the persons concerned were not
there on that day. So, I went again on August 27. I did the RTI then,"
Patel told Mirror. "In the application, I had asked several questions -
first, in 2013, Saherkotda police had raided a liquor den run byKamlesh Bhaiya.
A local channel had telecast the raid live. A lot of wine and beer bottles was
seen during the raid.
After that, did the police take any action against
the PSI of the police chowky (Amdupura), N R Makwana? A large number of bottles
was recovered during the raid and it was evident that the police chowky
concerned had not acted earlier," said Patel. The second question was if
any offence was registered against the Amdupura PSI (for failing to close the
liquor den earlier). The third question was - a few days back, in Vadaj a
police inspector was suspended in connection with the murder of a bootlegger.
On the other hand, a bootlegger had killed an
innocent citizen, Dipak Zala, in Shaherkotda some time back. Was any action
taken against the Saherkotda PI, Patel wanted to know through his RTI
application. Patel's application was forwarded to Shaherkotda police station by
the commissioner's office on August 30. However, Shaherkotda police told Patel
on September 22 that the answers to the questions could be provided by the
commissioner's office only. Patel suspects police officials at Saherkotda to be
under pressure from Bhaiya and feels there could be some nexus between them.
PASSING THE BUCK
Patel added, "The second PI at Shaherkotda
police station, B G Bhatt, told me I would get the replies from the
commissioner's office. They seem to be passing the buck. However, I am not put
off. I will again go to that office." Before filing the RTI, Patel had
given another RTI application to Saherkotda police station on June 24. He had
asked as to how many people were murdered in Shaherkotda police station area
between 2012 and 2014. He was told there were four murders in 2012, five
murders in 2013 and three murders in 2014 (till then). He had also asked in the
same RTI as to how many bootleggers were booked under Prevention of Anti-Social
Activities (PASA) between 2012 and 2014. He was given the answer: 19
bootleggers in 2012, 21 in 2013 (including Kamlesh Bhaiya) and 10 in 2014.
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