Dubai-returned bizman held for extortion bid S Ahmed Ali TNN  Feb 27,2014 Mumbai: A former businessman was arrested on Wednesday for allegedly threatening a Mira Road resident who runs his business in Bandra and demanding Rs 10 lakh from him, posing as an underworld gang member.     Accused Hiten Mehta (35) returned from Dubai two years ago and since then, he has been unemployed.     A cosmetic dealer in Bandra had been receiving the threat calls from international numbers over the last one month; the caller identified himself as “Sana” and “Afzal Khan” from Pakistan and Dubai. “It seems to be the handiwork of a petty criminal but as international numbers were used, we are exploring the underworld angle,” said JCP (crime) Sadanand Date.     The complainant said initially, the caller identified himself as Afzal Khan from Dubai and threatened to kill him if he failed to cough up Rs 10 lakh. Later, he received a call from Pakistan and the person called himself Sana who threatened him with dire consequences if didn’t comply with Khan’s demand.     The anti-extortion cell told the complainant to “agree to pay”. On Wednesday, cops, disguised as vendors, waited near a spot in Vile Parle and as Mehta arrived to take the money, arrested him.     In Dubai, Mehta supplied bed, bath and table linen to hotels and hospitals.

Man acquitted in rape case offers to marry victim TIMES NEWS NETWORK  May 12,2005 Mumbai: It had all the ingredients of a Bollywood tearjerker. Moments before a sessions court announced its judgment acquitting rape accused Mangesh Mahadik (22), a remorse-stricken Mahadik offered to marry the victim Geeta (name changed) and adopt her baby. After being asked by additional sessions judge R B Wasekar what he planned to do, Mahadik said, “I will look after my daughter and if Geeta is willing I am ready to marry her.’’     “The case was initially registered by Geeta’s parents after Mahadik had refused to marry her after fathering her child,’’ said additional public prosecutor Usha Makasare. “Since he has offered to marry her after being set free, he must be genuinely sorry.’’ Mahadik has already spent two years behind bars after being arrested for raping and kidnapping Geeta in 2003.     Mahadik and Geeta were distant cousins and used to reside in the same village, Dongroli in Raigad. In 2003, Geeta came to stay with her cousin sister in Ghatkopar. On September 29, 2003, Mahadik took Geeta to Pune. They stayed in Pune for 15 days, during which according to the police Mahadik raped her repeatedly. Mahadik was subsequently arrested after he refused to marry Geeta, who later gave birth to a baby girl.     During the trial, a DNA test ordered by the court proved that the baby was fathered by Mahadik. Judge Wasekar acquitted Mahadik on the grounds that Geeta was over 18 years old and had registered the case months after the incident.

Cop at Marine Drive chowky accused of abusing woman

By S Ahmed Ali TIMES NEWS NETWORK 

May 11,2005
Mumbai: Barely two weeks after senior inspector Isak Bagwan was transferred from the Marine Drive police station over the rape of a minor in a police chowky, his successor Arjun Bagdi is in trouble. Bagdi has been accused of abusing and threatening a woman at the police station.
    Geeta Salvi (33), a pathologist with Cooper Hospital, complained to the Dadar metropolitan magistrate that she was abused and threatened at the Marine Drive police station by a plainclothes police officer at 7.30 pm on May 4. 
    The officer was sitting in the senior inspector’s cabin which had the name plate of Arjun Bagdi. Later, she identified Bagdi from a photograph shown to her by this correspondent.
    Geeta and her brother Vijay Salvi (28) went to the police station following a court summons in a civil dispute with a builder. Defending himself, Bagdi said, “The lady and her brother had at least 21 bailable and non-bailable warrants against them over the last one year.’’ He added, “I love myuniform—it was not me, I never sit in civil dress when I’m in the police station.’’
    Magistrate M K Ramteke has ordered the assistant police commissioner of Colaba division to investigate Geeta’s allegation. ACP Mohan Rathod has also been ordered to identify the police officer and submit a report within three days.
    On Tuesday, ACP Rathod told this correspondent that he had submitted the report to the court on Monday. Geeta, however, said no policeman had approached her for her version or to ask her to identify the officer “who used foul language and threatened to beat me with his belt when I protested’’.
    Asked whether he had sought Geeta’s version, Rathod said, “I thought the lady was in jail and I didn’t have her address, but I will inquire again.’’

Arjun Bagdi (right) allegedly threatened to beat up a woman

Three held in kidney transplant racket S Ahmed Ali/Tnn  May 7,2005 Mumbai: The Mahim police on Thursday arrested three persons, including a local pathologist, in connection with an inter-state kidney transplant racket.     Javed Sarvar Khan (28) and Mohammed Zuber Khan (32), both alleged touts, were arrested along with Dr Pravin Gujarathi, who runs a pathology laboratory on the Lady Jamshedji Road.     The racket came to light after 33-year-old Srinivas Rao, who worked as an oddjob man with a catering agency, filed a complaint at Mahim police station last week.      In January 2004, the Mumbai police had busted a gang comprising touts and a nephrologist with Bombay Hospital for cheating poor, unemployed youths into donating their kidneys for paltry sums. At times, the donors were not even given the money.     Rao’s case seems to be no different. He had come to Mumbai last year in search of a job. After failing to secure one for over a month, he started hanging around restaurants near Mahim dargah where the poor are fed free meals. It was here that Javed Khan and Zuber Khan spotted him and lured him with the promise of a good job and money.      Senior inspector of the Mahim police station, Joe Gaikwad, told TOI that “the two accused told Rao he would get Rs 3 lakh and some perks if he donated a kidney.’’     On April 7, when Rao agreed to the proposal, the two accused bought him some clothes and a pair of shoes, and took him to Dr Gujarathi’s laboratory for diagnostic tests.     Investigating officer V Bankar said tests related to kidney functioning and transplant have to be prescribed by a doctor, but Dr Gujarathi didn’t ask for a prescription. Bankar added that Dr Gujarathi seemed to know the accused well.     Neelam Gujarathi, wife of the accused doctor, maintained he was unaware of the racket and had just conducted some routine tests at the patient’s request.      The touts then put Rao on a flight to Delhi. At Delhi airport, he was received by two agents who bundled him off in a taxi and drugged him with a spiked soft drink.      “When I regained conciousness, I was in a nursing home where a doctor, who was a white man, attended to me. There were stiches on the left side of my abdomen,’’ Rao told this correspondent. “The next day, they put me on a Delhi-Vijawada train. They didn’t give me any money and that’s why I came to Mumbai in search of the two touts.’’     The police are searching for the recipient of the kidney and three Delhi-based doctors who conducted the transplant operation.  How illegal transplants went out of Mumbai  Mumbai: Before January 2004, when the Mumbai police, with its phone-tapping skills, unearthed an illegal kidney trade racket, patients with kidney failure who had the means simply “bought’’ the organ in the black market. Post the bust-up, a leading nephrologist admitted that every months a few patients would go to other cities that were “more liberal’’ to shop for a kidney and a transplant. “A few months ago, three of my patients within a span of few weeks went to Chennai,’’ the doctor told TOI under condition of anonymity.      The other cities that desperate patients—numbed after repeated dialysis and the money strain—would visit included Nandiyal, Ranchi and New Delhi, say city doctors. “The number going to Nandiyal has dropped in recent times, but Chennai has picked up.’’ Incidentally, even the World Health Organisation had picked up Chennai as the top-ranker in the illegal kidney trade a few years ago.     However, there is worse. According to a government official, some doctors from Mumbai are known to zip across to other states to conduct transplants. “So, patients from Mumbai are sent to other cities that don’t have such stringent rules to perform operations involving such rackets.’’ TNN

Comfortable chairs for cops, made by convicts

S Ahmed Ali TNN

February 16, 2014
Mumbai: Some of the best designer furniture in several police stations across the city, especially chairs, are made by convicts inside Thane prison. Besides gift items like leather goods and pens made by the convicts, there is a huge demand for teak furniture, particularly wooden revolving chairs. Ironically, demand for most of these chairs are from Mumbai and Thane cops.
    Several police officers claim the chairs (in pic) are very comfortable and durable compared to the iron chairs available in the market. “I was visiting a colleague in Thane when I saw this chair in his office and learnt he had bought it from the prison showroom. I found it was very comfortable. Though it is made of wood, it comes with a revolving mechanism which can be adjusted. Moreover, the chair costs just Rs 5,000,” said inspector Ashok Khot of the Anti-Robbery Squad. “It is very comfortable and has an elite look. Despite being made of wood it blends well with a modern office,” said Vivek Bhosle from the city crime branch.
    The overwhelming popularity of the chair has left a huge gap between demand and supply. Also in demand are tables, rifle stands and wall hangings, all made by convicts. Prisoners convicted for various offences are allowed to work in jail and earn 10% of the product’s actual cost. “For example a convict makes one chair in two days and earns around Rs 50 to 100, depending on how quickly and cleanly he makes one,” said a Thane jail official.
    Jayant Prabhu, in-charge of Thane prison, said, “There are 260 convicts in Thane jail who are manufacturing goods. There is a huge demand for the chairs as they are made of solid teak wood brought by the government from Amravati forest. Many of the chairs are crafted by Nigerians convicted under the NDPS Act.”
    Nigerian Juddo Einthem, convicted for 10 years for possession of drugs, said, “Initially I found very difficult to even cut wood but other inmates made me a perfect carpenter. I feel when I am released I will pursue this as my profession.”
    The Thane jail handicraft shop, situated right outside the prison, is now closed for renovation and will soon reopen as a bigger showroom. While the Thane prison mostly makes small products, other jails in the state like Nashik, Yerawada and Kolhapur have bigger manufacturing units which make bedsheets, blankets and other linen, besides khadi material.
    The state government has given in-principle approval to allow small-scale industries to outsource work to over 38 prisons in Maharashtra. The industries set up manufacturing equipment in prisons and explain their working to the prisoners.

ATS CHIEF ALSO UNDER THREAT? ATS & police HQ were top IM targets, says Yasin Bhatkal S Ahmed Ali TNN  February 10, 2014 Mumbai: The Mumbai police headquarters atCrawford Market and Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) headquarters at the Traffic Institute in Nagpada were among the top targets of Indian Mujaheedin founder Riyaz Bhatkal, said Yasin Sadibappa alias Bhatkal, whose custody has been taken over by the Maharashtra ATS.     Yasin is believed to have told the police that IM co-founders—Riyaz and his elder brother Iqbal Bhatkal—were very upset after the city crime branch in 2008 busted the IM’s Pune module. Sources said that following the Batla House encounter, which hit the IM hard, the city crime branch then led by Rakesh Maria unearthed their hideouts in Udipi, Mangalore, from where the module was procuring explosives. “Yasin said Riyaz then asked him to carry out a blast inside the police HQ,” said an ATS officer.      Yasin said while he was in Mumbai in 2011 before the twin Kalbadevi blasts, Riyaz had assigned him the job of planting bombs inside the police headquarters. Yasin in turn asked Waqqas, the Pakistani suspect to conduct a recce of the police headquarters. “Waqqas visited the city police headquarters thrice and kept watch on all three gates for nearly two hours. To study the main gate, Waqqas stood in the BSES queue right outside the police headquarters pretending to pay an electricity bill,” said an officer. But Yasin said the plan failed after the police tracked them down to Habib mansion outside the Byculla station. “The IM module is also desperate to attack ATS chief Rakesh Maria as they believe Maria was instrumental in paralyzing the module in the last five years. And this is the reason why there are regular intelligence inputs of possible attacks on the ATS office and Maria has been given extra security,” said an officer. In the wake of inputs, the ATS recently raised its building height and erected a 15-mt watch tower.

PIL seeks HC help to ensure impartiality in top cop choice S Ahmed Ali TNN  February 9,2014 Mumbai: A PIL has been filed over the delay in the appointment of a police commissioner for the city.     Journalist-turned-activist Ketan Tirodkar filed the PIL in the Bombay high court, seeking directions to facilitate an impartial decision on who is to be the new commissioner.     The matter is likely to come up for hearing on Monday.     The PIL sought judicial intervention and an explanation from the government on its failure to appoint a new police commissioner after the resignation of Satyapal Singh on January31.      Tirodkdar said he was shocked to read media reports of infighting and caste and religion politics over the appointment of police commissioner.     He sought minutes of the meetings held by the government on the issue.The PIL said the state government relieved Singh on January 31, displaying a speed that shocked IPS cadres whose resignations had been kept pending over the years.     The PIL said a mad rush had begun for the coveted post, with home minister R R Patil of the NCP batting for Javed Ahmed while chief minister Prithviraj Chavan of the Congress rooting for Vijay Kamble. “Both these officers are of minority cadres and alliance partners are trying to capitalize their would-be appointments to encash votes in the forthcoming 2014 general elections,” the PIL said.  Monday meeting A decision on who is to be the new commissioner of police is likely to be made on Monday, when the newly constituted Police Establishment Board meets for the first time.“From now on the board will make recommendations to the home department on postings and transfers of IPS officers,” a Mantralaya source said. The board is headed by additional chief secretary (home) Amitabh Ranjan. The DGP is among its members. TNN

5 lakh for info on man seen with murdered techie in CCTV grabs S Ahmed Ali TNN  February 8,2014 Mumbai: The city crime branch probing the murder of software engineer Esther Anuhya (23) have unofficially announced a Rs 5-lakh cash reward to anyone providing information about the man seenwalking along with the deceased in footage obtained from CCTVs. A source said crime branch officers have distributed the man’s clear picture among their informers.      “We have told the informers that anyone who gives us information about the man, leading to his arrest, will be awarded. It is unofficial, we pay from the secret fund or our pockets,” said an officer. The cops also sought help from mobile service providers to trace the man. The Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) on Wednesday sent Anuhya’s confidential report. Reportedly, FSL experts haven’t been able to conclude whether she was raped or not but have said the cause of death was head injury. The FSL had earlier too ruled out rape and said there was a skull injury, indicating that Anuhya had been hit with a blunt object. While tightlipped about the report, cops said they wanted to know if any chemical was used to burn the body.      “Her body was almost decomposed. It must have been difficult even for the FSL to come out with any concrete conclusion,” said an officer. Anhuya went missing on January 5 from LTT. Ten days later, her half-burnt decomposed body was found in Kanjurmarg.

Cops get clearer picture of man seen with slain techie S Ahmed Ali TNN  February 4,2014 Mumbai: The city police probing the murder of 23-year-old software engineer Esther Anuhya have got a clearer and enhanced picture of the mysterious man who is seen walking along with her while pulling her luggage in the footage obtained from CCTV cameras installed at the Lokmanya Train Terminus (LTT).     A source said that the police, with the help of cyber experts and using face enhancing technology, have succeeded in enhancing the man’s picture. The police are now hoping to identify the person with the help of this enhanced picture. “He may be from the southern region. He is seen carrying a liquor bottle in his hand so early in the morning and yet no policemen stopped him. We have circulated the photo across the country and will release it soon for people to identify him,” said a GRP officer.     The city crime branch believes that this man is key to the Anuhya’s mysterious murder and now that his photo has been enhanced they will be able to crack the case. The cops are sure the killer was known to Anuhya.     On Monday, the Mumbai crime branch detained three more persons who resemble the man captured on the CCTVs and are interrogating them. A senior IPS officer on Monday reviewed the case and pulled up the three units working on it, asking them to speed up the probe and demanded results. A source said that though the GRP, local police and the crime branch are working on the case jointly, there is a difference of opinion over the leakage ofCCTV footage to media.     Anhuya, who was employed with TCS in Goregaon, went missing on reaching LTT on January 5, a day after she left her hometown of Machilipatnam. Esther had boarded a train for Mumbai at Visakhapatnam on January 4 and reached Mumbai at 5.30am. On January 16, her family found her half-burnt decomposed body off Eastern Express Highway in Kanjurmarg. GRP wants 100 hi-res CCTV cameras at LTT T he Kurla GRP on Monday submitted a proposal to the Central Railway to enhance electronic surveillance at the Lokmanya Tilak Terminus (LTT) in the wake of techie Esther Anuhya’s murder. A blueprint has been submitted to the divisional railway manager. The GRP and the city crime branch have questioned nearly 2,500 persons so far in the case, but are yet to make any arrests.     “We have sought at least 100 CCTVs, which will have high-resolution grabs, fro installation at LTT. The New Delhi railway station has installedsuch cameras long time ago. At present, only about 20-30% of LTT is covered by CCTV cameras and their images are grainy. We have gathered the footage of a man carrying Anuhya’s luggage on platforms 4-5, but the images can’t be zoomed in too much,” said senior inspector Shivaji Dhumal, Kurla GRP.     The isolated terminus is flanked by a large slum colony on one side. Cops want to instal the CCTV cameras at all entrances/exits, waiting halls and taxi parking areas. “If the parking area had a decent camera, we would have known who droveAnuhya away. Installing more baggage scanners and metal detectors has also been suggested,” said Dhumal. GRP officials said CCTVs at LTT’s new building are yet to be made functional. The proposal includes a suggestion to fortify LTT with a 12-ft boundary wall. The railways has been battling unhindered access issue at most stations. —Nitasha Natu

Man with Esther could be a cool cab driver, say police ‘Difficult To Get Clear Picture As Pixels Breaking’ S Ahmed Ali TNN  February 2, 2014 Mumbai: The CCTV footage of a well-built man walking alongside deceased techie Esther Anuhya, carrying her luggage at the Lokmanya Tilak Terminus has put investigating agencies in a tizzy. The Government Railway police (GRP) and city police are still in the dark about the man’s identity.     A section of police suspects that the man could be a private taxi driver and may have come following a request from her. “Either he is a cool cab taxi driver who is carrying her luggage, or he may have been sent by somebody known to Esther to pick her up,” said an officer.      Cop teams have fanned out all over the city in a bid to identify the man in the CCTV footage. A few men who resemble the man have been detained. City police have roped in cyber experts to get a clearer picture of the mystery man. “When we are trying to zoom into his face, the picture is breaking. Hence, we have called for cyber experts who are using advanced software to zoom and get a clearer picture,” said a senior officer. The city crime branch believes this man is the key to Esther’s murder.     Esther, who was employed with TCS in Goregaon, went missing on reaching LTT on January 5, a day after she left from her hometown of Machilipatnam. Esther had boarded the train for Mumbai at Vishakhapatnam on January 4 and landed at LTT at 5.30am. Ten days later, herfamily members found her half-burnt body was found in a decomposed state off the Eastern Express Highway in Kanjurmarg.     The police suspect that Esther had another cellphone which her family was not aware of.     Her father SJS Prasad had instructed her several times to stay inside the station till sunrise as the train would reach at LTT at 5am and it would not be safe to venture out in the dark. Despite this, Esther is seen moving from one platform to another. And in the melee she is seen moving along with this mystery man.     Meanwhile, the crime branch has released the lookalike man from Hyderabad who was detained on Friday on suspicion.  PIECING THE JIGSAW      Esther Anuhya (23), who worked at TCS’s Goregaon office, went missing after alighting at LTT from a train on Jan 5. Her body was found in Kanjurmarg on Jan 16     CCTV footage from LTT shows Esther glued to a cellphone while walking out at 5.10am. A man in white shirt and jeans is seen carrying Esther’s luggage  FORENSIC REPORT BY WED     Forensic Science Laboratory director M Malve said the forensic report in Esther’s case would be ready to be handed over to the police by Wednesday. However, sources in the police and FSL said it would be difficult for the forensic experts to come up with any concrete conclusion as the body was partly decomposed and out in the open for nearly 10 days. The police said her body was found with only undergarments on, raising suspicion that she had been raped before being murdered. She was wearing jeans     when she went missing from LTT, said an officer. FSL sources said they have twice carried out tests on the half-charred body but have not been able to come to conclusion as to whether she was sexually assaulted. The police have requested the FSL to send their scientific findings on a priority basis.

Slain techie seen leaving LTT with man in CCTV, suspect from Hyderabad detained S Ahmed Ali  TNN  February 1, 2014     Going by CCTV footage, a 40-year-old man from Hyderabad has been detained on suspicion of taking away 23-year-old Esther Anuhya from Lokmanya Tilak Terminus in Kurla on January 5 soon after she arrived in the city. He has been brought to the city by crime branch and is being questioned.     The software engineer went missing after arriving in the city from her hometown in Andhra Pradesh after Christmas vacation. Her half-burnt and partly-decomposed body was found in the mangroves near Kanjurmarg on January 16. It  is suspected she was sexually assaulted before being killed, but her phone and ring were with her.     CCTV footage from the station shows an unidentified thick-set man in white shirt and blue jeans carrying her luggage. Esther is walking alongside, glued to a cell phone. The man appears to have come to pick her up and may even have been acquainted with Esther. So far, the police had focused their probe on auto and taxi drivers operating outside LTT.     Apart from the man’s identity, another riddle for the cops is that of the mobile phone seen in the footage. Esther’s personal phone, found near her body, had a dual SIM and no calls were made from either of her numbers after her train crossed the Maharashtra border. The possibilities that the cops are now probing is that either Esther had an additional phone which her family wasn’t aware of or that the phone belonged to the man carrying her luggage.     A police and GRP team met Esther’s family in Hyderabad with the CCTV footage in a bid to identify him. They apparently said he wasn’t related to them.     “Anuhya’s father S J S Prasad had instructed her to stay till sunrise (at the station) and we can’t understand why she ventured out. From the CCTV footage it appears that Anuhya is walking out with the man. We still don’t know who he is and whether he is receiving her or lured her with promises of a lift,” said a senior police officer, adding that a clearer picture will emerge by late night.     Esther’s train had reached LTT at 4.55am on January 5. The spot where she alighted on platform 3 isn’t covered by CCTVs. “We started checking footage from other cameras at the terminus. Then we spotted Esther walking into a waiting hall in the old terminus. She did not stay in the waiting hall for long and walked out within minutes. Around 5.10am, we spotted her again in the CCTV grabs of platforms 4-5. This time, she was following the man who was carrying her luggage and seemed at ease. Why she ventured to platforms 4-5 when her train did not arrive there needs to be found out,” said a seniorofficial.     The police have contacted TCS, where Esther worked, to inquire if the unidentified person works there or whether the company had sent someone to pick her up. The cops have also contacted her friends. “Our priority is to find out the phone number that she is seen using at the station. We have contacted mobile service providers. Data has been wiped out from her personal handset found near her body and we are trying to get it recovered through experts,” said an official.     Cops have also made inquiries at Thiruvananthpuram where Esther had undergone training between July and September last year.  HINT OF A BREAKTHROUGH  THE CASE Software engineer Esther Anuhya, 23, (inset) went missing after alighting at LTT from a train on Jan 5. She was travelling back to the city where she worked with TCS from her hometown in AP. Her family finally found her half-burnt, partlydecomposed body in the mangroves near Kanjurmarg on January 16  NEW FINDINGS     A 40-year-old man detained in Hyderabad on suspicion of taking Esther from the station     He resembles a man seen in CCTV footage (right, foreground) of LTT carrying Esther’s luggage and walking at 5.10am. Esther is following, glued to a cell phone      Esther had got off a train on platform 3 around 4.55am at a spot not covered with cameras. CCTVs in the old terminus building show her entering the waiting room. But she exits soon after. She is then seen in the video grabs of platforms 4-5 leaving with the man  QUESTIONS Who was the man carrying her luggage?      Whose cell phone was she using at that time? No calls had been made from her cellphone, found near her body, since she crossed into Maharashtra Why did Esther head to platforms 4-5 at all?

Tainted babu booked for 279% illegal assets Mumbai:
S Ahmed Ali

February 11

 There is more trouble for deputy secretary of urban development Anandrao Jeevane. Currently out on bail in a bribery case, Jeevane is now in the dock for possessing assets disproportionate to income. The anti-corruption bureau (ACB) on Monday registered a fresh case of disproportionate assets (DPA) against Jeevane for possessing 279% more wealth than his income. ACB officials said there is no need to re-arrest him as they will send the fresh DPA report to the department concerned. ACB sources said they stumbled upon huge immovable properties, gold ornaments and fixed deposits from Jeevane’s house and bank lockers. “We found that Jeevani had amassed assets worth Rs 2.13 crore which beyond his known source of income. During probe, he could only account for Rs 1.17 crore,” said an official. —S Ahmed Ali Inspector in ACB net Ulhasnagar: The Thane ACB on Monday arrested an Ulhasnagar police inspector and his aide for taking a bribe of Rs 15,000 from a person to not register extortion charges against him in an old case.—Pradeep Gupta

IPL panel raps city cops for not probing D link

 S Ahmed Al TNN Feb 10,2014
 Mumbai : The Justice Mudgal IPL probe committee has strongly indicted the Mumbai police for not pursuing the role of gangster Dawood Ibrahim in the IPL betting scam and said the probe’s solitary focus on Gurunath Meiyappan, CSK principal, indicates “shoddy investigation”. The panel said Mumbai police worked at cross-purposes with Delhi police and voiced unhappiness over the police allowing Pak umpire Asad Rauf to leave India and not expanding its probe to examine the role of other cricketers whose names cropped up in transcripts related to the scandal. Here’s what the report says: On the Dawood connection • Chandresh Patel, according to Delhi police, is one of the key henchmen/fixers of Dawood. He was in direct contact with bookies in Pakistan and it was through him that the crime syndicate operated by Dawood initiated spot-fixing by Rajasthan players. Curiously, Chandresh Patel, though known to Mumbai police to be a co-conspirator with Vindoo Dara Singh, is shown only as a witness and not an accused in the Mumbai police charge sheet. • With the approval of Dawood… Ramesh Vyas had taken over the Mumbai turf earlier run by one Firoz. Yet Mumbai police negate any connection between Vyas and Dawood. Ramesh Vyas is projected according to the Mumbai police charge sheet to be only a bookie and an exchange (telephone) operator… • The fact that Mumbai police did not accept the role of Dawood in the betting racket evinces that Delhi police and Mumbai police are working at cross-purposes in so far as the link to Dawood is concerned. In such a grave matter of national security pertaining to involvement of a terrorist gang in running illegal hawala operations in the lucrative betting market in cricket, the two top police organizations, one of the political capital and other of the financial capital cannot be permitted to work at crosspurposes. • Mumbai police, however, informed the panel they had no conclusive material that Dawood was linked with the betting operations in Mumbai. •There is therefore cause for a distinct impression that for reasons not satisfactorily explained, Mumbai police was not willing to investigate the role of Dawood in the racket. On Meiyappan • The approach of Mumbai police appears curious, more so keeping in mind the abrupt voluntary statement of Mumbai police before the committee that their focus in the investigation was Gurunath Meiyappan… It is unbelievable that Mumbai police has failed to locate all other persons involved in the racket. It is inconceivable such a betting racket would function for the benefit of one person. Police has either been naïve or have deliberately not investigated the entire betting operations. On Asad Rauf • Failure to detain Asad Rauf indicates possibilities which may require further probe. Police defend their investigation J oint commissioner of police (crime) Himanshu Roy said, “The report is a validation of professional investigations carried out by Mumbai crime branch. The committee had believed the report which we had presented before them.” A senior Mumbai police officer said they probed only those aspects which had legal validity and which could stand in the court of law. “One person cannot be arrested for the same offence in two difference places. It will jeopardize the probe,” the officer said, referring to bookie Chandresh Patel’s role. TNN

OCBI blames state cops for goof-up S Ahmed Ali TNN Mumbai: The CBI has blamed the state police and the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for its website showing dead as well as jailed criminals as wanted. A fortnight after TOI highlighted the discrepancies, the CBI on Friday said it updates the data based on information from the other agencies. The CBI said its role is to transmit requests from various agencies to Interpol for publication of red corner notices (RCN), which Interpol publishes after satisfying itself that the request meets its standards. The CBI said that the RCN for Dawood’s dead brother Noora Kaskar, Mohammed Memon alias Iqbal Mirchi and Rajan Nikhalje alias Chhota Rajan were issued on the request of the state police. It said the RCN of slain terrorist Illiyas Kashmiri was issued on NIA request. “Kashmiri, Noora or Iqbal Mirchi may have been reported dead in various media reports, but neither the Maharashtra police nor the NIA made any request to Interpol wing of CBI for withdrawal of RCN, perhaps because their deaths are yet to be confirmed through official channels,” CBI chief information officer Kanchan Prasad said. A senior state police officer said the city crime branch had been sending confidential reports to the CBI regularly. “And yet the CBI is not updating?” the officer said. Prasad said Ahmed Lambu, a 1993 serial blasts accused, was on the run and had not been deported. The CBI was silent on Abdul Rashid Khan, whose name still appears in an RCN despite his arrest in 2010 by the city crime branch.

PIL seeks HC help to ensure impartiality in top cop choice S Ahmed Ali TNN  February 8 Mumbai: A PIL has been filed over the delay in the appointment of a police commissioner for the city.     Journalist-turned-activist Ketan Tirodkar filed the PIL in the Bombay high court, seeking directions to facilitate an impartial decision on who is to be the new commissioner.     The matter is likely to come up for hearing on Monday.     The PIL sought judicial intervention and an explanation from the government on its failure to appoint a new police commissioner after the resignation of Satyapal Singh on January31.      Tirodkdar said he was shocked to read media reports of infighting and caste and religion politics over the appointment of police commissioner.     He sought minutes of the meetings held by the government on the issue.The PIL said the state government relieved Singh on January 31, displaying a speed that shocked IPS cadres whose resignations had been kept pending over the years.     The PIL said a mad rush had begun for the coveted post, with home minister R R Patil of the NCP batting for Javed Ahmed while chief minister Prithviraj Chavan of the Congress rooting for Vijay Kamble. “Both these officers are of minority cadres and alliance partners are trying to capitalize their would-be appointments to encash votes in the forthcoming 2014 general elections,” the PIL said.  Monday meeting A decision on who is to be the new commissioner of policeis likely to be made on Monday, when the newly constituted Police Establishment Board meets for the first time.“From now on the board will make recommendations to the home department on postings and transfers of IPS officers,” a Mantralaya source said. The board is headed by additional chief secretary (home) Amitabh Ranjan. The DGP is among its members. TNN