The incident took place around 8.15 am on Saturday at the Sir JJ Marg junction in South Mumbai. (Representational/File)An assistant sub-inspector of police and a police constable from the Sir JJ Marg police were arrested on Saturday for allegedly extorting Rs 10,000 from a diamond merchant by threatening to file an FIR against him. The matter came to light after the complainant took to Twitter and narrated his ordeal, tagging Mumbai Police’s official Twitter handle.
This is the second case this year from South Mumbai where policemen have been booked for targeting businessmen in the same fashion. In March this year, an IPS officer was booked for alleged extortion along with some police officers of the L T Marg police station. While IPS officer Saurabh Tripathi, who was posted as zone 2 DCP, remains absconding, three officers were arrested back then for extorting money from ‘angadias’.
The incident took place around 8.15 am on Saturday at the Sir JJ Marg junction in South Mumbai. The two accused, assistant sub-inspector Sunil Vartak (57), a resident of Badlapur, and constable Suresh Gaikwad (32), a resident of Kalyan, allegedly stopped the 40-year-old complainant, who is a diamond merchant based in Girgaon.
The complainant and his cousin had just returned to the city from Sangli after completing his work. They were on their way to their Girgaon residence. The complainant was carrying diamonds and cash in his bag. He was accompanied by his cousin when the two cops dressed in uniform stopped them and asked them to show bills pertaining to the diamonds. The two cops then forcibly took them to a police van and made them sit in it. They said an FIR will be registered against them and demanded Rs 50,000 and after negotiations accepted Rs 10,000. The complainant took to Twitter and later approached the Sir JJ Marg police station on Saturday afternoon and filed a complaint against the duo, and they were arrested.