Maharashtra govt told to suspend IPS officer linked to extortion

/ TNN / Updated: Mar 17, 2022, 05:49 IST

MUMBAI: The city police have asked the state government to suspend IPS officer Saurabh Tripathi after his role in extorting money from angadias or traditional couriers became evident. 
Tripathi, who has not reported for work since February 19, has moved the sessions court seeking anticipatory bail and the matter has been posted for hearing on March 24 before sessions judge R M Sadrani. Tripathi was shunted from zone 2 deputy commissioner of police to DCP operations soon after the FIR. 
In December 2020, an angadia association had complained to then commissioner of police Hemant Nagrale that officials of L T Marg and V P Road police stations, including Tripathi, were demanding Rs 10 lakh for smooth running of their business. Three policemen, inspector Om Wangaate, assistant inspector Nitin Kadam and sub-inspector Samadhan Jamdaade, have been arrested in the case. 
Questions were raised by some of the officers for not including the name of Tripathi in the FIR when the angadias had specifically mentioned him. In their original complaint to Nagrale, the angadia association had accused DCP Tripathi of threatening them with action by the income tax department and demanding Rs 10 lakh per month. 
The police said Tripathi’s role became clearly evident after Wangaate spilled the beans on him. “Wangaate initially denied his role but during the course of investigation, admitted that he executed the illegal orders given to him by Tripathi. He said there was nothing in writing and since he was the inspector in charge of crime investigation, Tripathi assigned the job to him. He in turn asked subordinates Kadam and Jamdaade to summon angadias and check their baggage. On the pretext of checking, they removed some cash but he didn’t clarify the exact amount they robbed from angadias,” said a source. 
The angadias said the accused officer robbed/extorted Rs 19 lakh belonging to four angadias on last December 2, 3, 4 and 6. The police have already seized CCTV footage which establishes policemen taking angadias inside the Phophlewadi police chowky under the pretext of checking. 
The police have also found the Internet Protocol Detail Record (IPDR) that helps track details of a call or message generated by a phone device and includes details like the number from which the call was made, destination port, start and end date and time. Wangaate said Tripathi used to call him on WhatsApp and other mobile apps. “The IPDR has helped us in establishing communications between Tripathi and Wangaate,” said an officer. 
Officials said Tripathi has not given any reason for his absence from work. The police department recently received a letter from Tripathi’s wife saying Tripathi is unwell. Crime branch police teams have fanned out to his home town in Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh and relatives’ houses in Lucknow.