Mumbai: Departmental inquiry ordered against IPS officer Saurabh Tripathi who is accused of extortion

A departmental enquiry has been ordered against suspended IPS officer Saurabh Tripathi in connection with an alleged extortion case registered against him, a senior police official said here on Friday.

The order was issued by the Maharashtra government recently, but the inquiry is yet to start as Tripathi is absconding and a charge sheet could not be served to him, the official added.

Senior officials of the General Administration Department will conduct the enquiry, he added.

Junior police officers named in the case too will face separate departmental inquiries, the official said.

A First Information Report (FIR) was registered against Tripathi in December 2021 on the complaint of some members of an Angadia association.

Angadiyas, traditional courier operators, mainly provide services to bullion and diamond businesses.

It was alleged that the Indian Police Service officer, then Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone II, in Mumbai, demanded Rs 10 lakh per month from Angadia operators for allowing them to function.

The complaint also named three police officials attached to Lokmanya Tilak Marg Police Station in south Mumbai.

The Crime Intelligence Unit of the Mumbai Crime Branch started investigation and arrested the three police officials, Tripathi's domestic help, and his brother-in-law and Assistant Sales Tax Commissioner Ashutosh Mishra in the case.

But the IPS officer himself is yet to be arrested and a look-out notice has been issued against him at airports in the country, as per police.