Mumbai: A Deputy Superintendent of Police with the Maharashtra Anti-Corruption Bureau is on the run after allegedly being booked by his own agency for graft.
According to ACB officials, the accused, Dy. SP Suresh Shetkar, is posted with the ACB’s Latur. Earlier this month, senior ACB officers received a complaint that he had demanded bribes. “A Regional Transport Office employee in Latur had approached the ACB headquarters in Mumbai and alleged that Mr. Shetkar was threatening to initiate action in a matter pending against him unless he paid him ₹50,000. The matter was handed over to the Mumbai unit,” a senior ACB officer said.
The Mumbai unit found Mr. Shetkar had asked him to give the money to a Vijay Gadkari, who was allegedly the middleman on Mr. Shetkar's behalf.
Acting on the ACB Mumbai’s instructions, the complainant agreed to pay the bribe and was instructed to meet Mr. Gadkari. The ACB laid a trap and Gadkari was allegedly caught red-handed on Friday while accepting the bribe from the complainant at a driving school he runs in Latur. “We registered a case against both Gadkari and Shetkar on Friday under the Prevention of Corruption Act and sent teams to Shetkar's office and residence. However, he was not to be found,” the officer added.
The ACB is now tracking his cellular location and making inquiries with friends and family members about his possible whereabouts. Searches are also being carried out at his residence and office to estimate the value of his assets and check for grounds for a Disproportionate Assets inquiry, senior officers said.
Meanwhile, the ACB is also making inquiries among Shetkar's colleagues and immediate superiors, as well as at places of his previous postings, to find out if there had ever been allegations of any kind against him in the past.