880 gm gold seized from flats of IPS officer’s staffer………S Ahmed Ali
MUMBAI: The anti-corruption bureau (ACB), investigating the alleged bribery case involving senior IPS officer and Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (Mhada) vigilance chief Jawahar Singh, searched sub-inspector Deepak Shinde’s flats and seized cash, gold and property documents late on Saturday.
Shinde, who worked under Singh, was caught by the ACB accepting a bribe of Rs 2 lakh from a deputy commissioner (sales tax), Pune, allegedly at the behest of Singh on Saturday. The Thane and the Mumbai ACB units jointly carried out the search of Shinde’s two flats-one at police quarters behind the D N Nagar police station and the other at Mulund and recovered Rs 4.50 lakh in cash, 880 gm of gold ornaments as well as biscuits and property documents.
Sources said that Shinde had acquired large properties in Thane and Ratnagiri. “We are studying the documents to get further leads in the case,” said an ACB official. The bureau is investigating how Shinde, who earned Rs 15,000 a month, acquired properties disproportionate to his income.
Meanwhile, Shinde was produced in the special ACB court on Sunday and was remanded in police custody till August 13.
The complainant in this case was being investigated by the vigilance department in a corruption case. The inquiry report against the complainant was with Singh and was to be forwarded to the ACB. Singh allegedly demanded the bribe from the complainant, who had earlier worked with the Mhada, to block the report.
Singh had allegedly threatened the complainant that there was strong evidence against him and asked him to shell out Rs 5 lakh. The amount was later brought down to Rs 2 lakh.
According to sources, this was just the tip of the iceberg as there were numerous complaints against Shinde. He would threaten and demand bribes at the behest of Singh, whose name has cropped up in the investigations, the official said.