The Mumbai Police Crime Branch on Thursday arrested two more accused, including an assistant to a practicing advocate, in connection with the bail surety racket busted last month.
The Unit I of the Crime Branch had on October 25 arrested eight accused for allegedly providing bogus sureties to bail seekers in Mumbai and neighbouring cities. The accused are believed to have helped over 400 bail seekers secure bail.
Crime Branch officials said that Kalpesh Kalbere (30) and Kishore Chumbale (59) were arrested after their involvement was established in the interrogation of the eight accused arrested earlier, sources said.
“Mr. Kalbere was working as an assistant to a lawyer practising at the Esplanade Court, and verification documents of sureties for bail seekers would be processed through him. He was in touch with the accused and helped them pass off the bogus sureties as genuine ones,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Detection) Dilip Sawant said.
Mr. Sawant said that Mr. Chumbale, a resident of Chembur, was assigned the role of getting the bogus documents from the main accused and providing them to the bogus sureties.
The Unit I is still in the process of finding out exactly how many people have secured bail with the help of the accused. “The involvement of more court officials cannot be denied, as the accused would need insiders to tip them off about bail seekers. We are also finding out whether there was any lapse in verification,” an officer said.