Indian Express: Mumbai: Thursday, August 14, 2014.
Police
Inspector Mahendra Narlekar, who was arrested for allegedly demanding a bribe
from a Khar-based builder earlier this month, was also suspended once before on
charges of misconduct, a Right To Information query revealed. On Tuesday, a
50-year-old man approached the Anti Corruption Bureau with evidence of
Narlekar’s earlier misdemeanours, ACB official said.
The man
submitted an RTI application to the ACB that contains details of Narlekar’s
career. The RTI query stated that in 2004, a departmental inquiry conducted by
the then Additional Commissioner of Police (West region), Parambir Singh, had
found that Narlekar and police sub-inspector Abdul Rahim Salim Sheikh had bent
several rules while investigating a case of robbery at a jewellery store in
Vile Parle east.
The inquiry
found that the duo had responded to an offence of robbery at a jewellery store
on November 6, 2014. The officers had reportedly found 100 gms of gold and
silver ornaments in the possession of a suspect. “However, the officers did not
conduct a panchanama will seizing the stolen goods. They also did not inform
their superiors about the incident or make a diary entry of the incident. They
kept the stolen goods with themselves,” the inquiry stated.
Both men were
then placed under suspension. A few years later, Narlekar was transferred to the Central Region Control
Room in Byculla. “We are verifying the documents and will then assess how it will
affect our ongoing probe,” said Narendra Talegaonkar, Assistant Commissioner of
Police, ACB (Mumbai range).
While
Narlekar is in custody, the main accused, assistant police inspector Subhash
Samant, who evaded the ACB trap last week by jumping off the window of his
Carter Road apartment, and his accomplices, Vicky Arora, Mahesh Kamble and
Robin Gonsalves, are still at large.
Narlekar is
accused of demanding Rs 20 lakh from a real estate agent in Khar to not
register a case of rape against him last month. During a discreet inquiry, the
ACB found that Samant had also allegedly demanded Rs 50 lakh from the
complainant and also handed over documents of a disputed property to a builder
named Vicky Arora. Kamble and Gonsalves are associates of Arora. The ACB laid a
trap on August 4, but it failed to nab the accused.
“Arora’s
appeal for an anticipatory bail was rejected by the Bombay High Court on
Wednesday, while Samant’s plea will be heard on August 26,” said Talegaonkar.
He added, “We
have circumstantial evidence against Narlekar, but more details will emerge
once we interrogate him. We are in the process of seeking a non-bailable
warrant and look-out notice against the accused, who are at large.”
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