In a major embarrassment for the Mira Bhayandar-Vasai Virar (MBVV) police, two people including a middleman and a constable attached to the Navghar police station landed in the custody of the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) for demanding and accepting a bribe of ₹10,000 from a general store owner in Bhayandar.
The bribe was demanded as protection money to allow the sale of banned gutka products. The complainant who earlier sold the banned products, claims to have stopped the illegal business. The middleman Amit Rakesh Mishra, 28, was demanding ₹8,000 as a monthly charge on behalf of the police constable Amit Eknath Patil, 38, from the shop owner.
ACB team laid trap
The duo were demanding ₹16,000 for two months. After negotiations, the demand was scaled down to ₹10,000. After verifying the authenticity of the complaint, an ACB team led by police inspector Swapnil Juikar laid a trap and caught the middleman red-handed Wednesday
One accomplice absconding
While the middleman and the constable have been taken into custody and booked under the relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act, one of their accomplices is said to be absconding. The incident has exposed the involvement of local policemen and their private middlemen in taking monthly bribes and giving protection to gutkha sellers.
