CCTV footage released under RTI catches cops on wrong foot

Nagpur: In perhaps the first such case, the family of an accused in a drugs seizure case used the RTI Act to procure CCTV footage from Smart City project cameras, and is set to initiate legal proceedings against police personnel. They claim the Pachpaoli police illegally acted in the jurisdiction of Yashodhara Nagar police station, falsified the time and location of arrest in the complaint, and unnecessarily beat up the accused during the arrest.
The Smart City camera footage was provided by Nagpur Smart and Sustainable Development Corporation Limited under the RTI Act. The CCTV footage, also available with TOI now, shows Mohit Shahu and his accomplice Amir Malik being nabbed by cops in plain clothes arriving in private cars at Kanji House Chowk near Binaki Mangalwari on February 25.

However, the official police record shows the two were caught with mephedrone (MD) powder from a place close to Shaitan Chowk near Dayanand Park at Vaishali Garden at 3.35am the next day. A copy of the police report is also in possession of TOI.

The footage also raised question on the legality of the action since narcotics cases are made in the presence of independent witnesses, who are not seen in the CCTV video.

The CCTV footage, procured by Mohit’s elder brother Rohit through RTI, also shows there was no action by the police at Shaitan Chowk near Zaveri Hospital or near NIT Chowk in Vaishali Nagar on that night.

Zonal DCP Rahul Maknikar said the Shahu family could have manipulated the CCTV footage. “We will verify the allegations,” he said.

The CCTV footage also showed one of the cops, who had been transferred to headquarters for bullying vendors for free snacks, raining blows on Mohit in full public view. The cops were also least bothered about Malik, who easily parked his two-wheeler, even as the cops kept on searching and thrashing Mohit. Later, police claimed 29 gm MD powder was found in Mohit’s possession and 10gm was seized from Malik.

Mohit, caught for the second time in a narcotics case, is now lodged in Central Jail along with Malik.

Mohit’s elder brother Rohit claimed that he was shocked to see his younger sibling stepping out of a private grey car with blood smeared all over his face. “My brother required immediate medical attention as his face was bloodied, which can be verified from the CCTV. He was also carrying Rs2.36 lakh. The cops returned only Rs36,000 to us,” he said.

Rohit also said his brother Mohit was tortured in police custody and forced to record a video saying that he kept cash Rs2 lakh in the parking lot of their residence at Shahu Mohalla near Kanji House Chowk. “The CCTV footage of our residence will prove our claim that Mohit was tortured in custody to record his video giving a clean chit to cops regarding the cash,” he said.

“The Pachpaoli police had in fact planted additional 27 gm MD to implicate Shahu under a more serious section of the law, and also demanded Rs3 lakh from us to set him free without facing any case,” he said.