Mumbai: The Bombay High Court Monday granted pre-arrest bail to three policemen belonging to the Government Railway Police (GRP) accused of assaulting and extorting money from a passenger at Mumbai Central terminus in August.
Details of the GRP Officers
The GRP officers – Rahul Bhosale, 47, Lalit Jagtap, 50, and Anil Rathod, 37 – approached the HC after a sessions court denied relief to them following their suspension.
Court’s Observations
While granting pre-arrest bail, Justice Nitin R Borkar accepted their advocate Aniket Nikam’s argument that the incident mentioned in the complaint was “over-exaggerated”.
Conditions of Bail
The court had directed their release, in case of arrest, on furnishing personal bond of Rs 25,000 each. They have been directed not to contact witnesses and attend the investigating agency’s office from September 17 to September 19.
Sessions Court Perspective
The sessions court had refused relief, observing that custodial interrogation was essential as the search of the victim’s bag was carried out in a room and not under CCTV surveillance, reflecting their “ill intention”.
Incident Details
According to the complaint, the incident occurred on August 10 when a Rajasthan-based jeweller and his eight-year-old daughter were about to board the Duronto Express. A policeman allegedly stopped them for baggage inspection. During the search, officers found 14 grams of gold and over Rs 31,000 in cash, for which the businessman gave satisfactory explanations, as per the complaint.
Alleged Extortion
However, he was allegedly taken to a room, threatened, abused and forced to sign a blank paper. The officers are accused of extorting Rs 30,000 from him, returning Rs 1,900 as “travel expenses,” while handing back the gold.
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Accused’s Defense
Asserting that they were only discharging their duties, the accused claimed they were falsely implicated and that the delay made the prosecution’s version doubtful. The prosecution explained the FIR delay, saying that the victims were shaken and had to approach different police authorities.
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