Suspended Police Inspector Lied to Senior, Say Cops
Sachin Dave
Mumbai: Sudhakar Pujari, police inspector at Vile Parle who was suspended by Police Commissioner AN Roy for misconduct on Thursday, had lied to the Deputy Commissioner of Police before going to Delhi, revealed police inquiry.
According to the police, Pujari who was denied permission to go to Delhi, about a week back approached Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) RN Tadvi (Zone 8) and told him that the Police Commissioner had given him a go-ahead for leave. Pujari had allegedly told Tadvi that Roy had no problem of his going to Delhi and approaching the Supreme Court about a case he was investigating earlier. However, Roy had never given any such permission.
The whole matter came to light after Roy asked Tadvi the reason about Pujari’s absence without permission from his superiors. Immediately after this Roy passed the suspension order and sent a constable to Vile Parle. “Give this letter in Pujari’s hand,” Roy had reportedly told him at 11.30 pm on Thursday. According to Shashikant Shinde, who was transferred from the post of Deputy Commissioner of Police (zone 8) a month ago, he had also refused Pujari leave.
However, according to a senior police official, Pujari had antagonised the IPS lobby after he summoned former Mumbai police commissioner Shrikant Bapat a year ago in a Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC) scam case for interrogation. Pujari, the investigation officer with the Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) then, was transferred to the Vile Parle police station soon after the incident.
When asked about Pujari’s suspension, Roy said, “He (Pujari) is supposed to inform his seniors if he has to go outside and also on leave, but he failed to do so. We have suspended him after an inquiry was conducted by us and it was found that he was at fault.” Roy, however, denied that the IPS lobby was against him.
When contacted, Pujari confirmed that he has been suspended for misconduct, but refused to comment on anything else.
URL- http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=223843