Squad to tackle fake cops set up in Ahmedabad

AHMEDABAD: City police authorities have finally woken up to the menace posed by incidents ofcheating orchestrated by men posing as policemen.

           Ahmedabad police commissioner asked city crime branch officials to form a separate cell to tackle the fake police menace. A separate telephone number too has been allotted to this cell. This number will act as a helpline for people who want to report an incident or even cross-check credentials of men posing as cops.

         The team, said city police officials, will be headed by police inspector D D Damor. "All the incidents till now have occurred near banks and temples. The conmen posing as cops convince the victims to take off gold jewellery that they are wearing then. Then the conmen steal the valuables by sleight of hand. If such an encounter does take place then people should move to crowded places," said police officials who are part of this cell.

         A notification issued by the police commissioner also warns that even if the fake cops show identity cards then too they should not take off their jewellery or adhere to what they say. "Policemen cannot ask anybody to take off jewellery without any reason," said police officials.

         Usually, the gang has four members. "One who poses as a police inspector and then are those who pose as passersby. Often the conmen would first play out the process of taking off jewellery in fear of rising number robberies in front of the real victims. When the real targets are convinced, the scheme is played out again," said police officials.

        City police officials have attributed these fake cop episodes to gangs from Bhiwandi, Pune and Jalgaon in Maharashtra. Bangalore's Irani gang too is suspected to have been involved in this spate of fake cop episodes.

ISD calls to prisoners under scanner

           State police chief S T Ramesh is looking into suspected flow of international calls to some inmates of Parappana Agrahara.

           The police department is probing the issue as most calls reportedly came from Pakistan and West Asia, he said on Monday. "I came across media reports that some prison inmates are receiving international calls, particularly from Pakistan. But I don't accept or deny the allegation. We are looking into the matter."

VISIT POLICE STATIONS EVERY WEEK

        Home minister R Ashoka has directed Bangalorepolice commissioner Jyotiprakash Mirji to visit at least one police station every Monday.

      " We want to ensure a safe Bangalore for all. Jurisdictional police officials, including assistant commissioners of police (ACP) and deputy commissioner of police (DCP) will be held responsible for anti-social activities in their areas. If need be, the government will order for more patrol vehicles for effective policing. In the event of any serious crime or law-and-order breakdown, the officer concerned will have to face an inquiry," Ashoka said.

JAMMERS IN JAIL

       Ashoka said jammers will be installed in Parappana Agrahara. "The government has released Rs 9 crore for the project. Pre-installation works are over," he said. 

Charges framed against two police officers in fake stamp paper scam

PUNE: The court of special judge S N Sardesai on Saturday framed charges against three suspects, including two police officials, in the fake stamp paper scam registered with the Nashik police in 2005. The suspects are inspector Anil Deshmukh, sub-inspector Ramesh Pawar and Raju Satpute. The suspects have pleaded "not guilty", and have claimed to be tried.

The suspects face charges of entering into a criminal conspiracy for allegedly abetting the organised crime syndicate under sections 120 (b), 255, 256, 257 and 258 of the Indian Penal Code and 3 (1) (2) of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act.

The kingpin, Abdul Karim Ladsab Telgi, has pleaded guilty in the scam case registered in special case no 6/ 2005 when he was produced before the court via videoconferencing from the Bangalore jail.

The judge has faxed a letter to the jail superintendent directing him to obtain Telgi's signature on the plea that he has pleaded guilty and send it to the court as soon as possible.

The fifth suspect, Jaikishan Bangali, has expressed his desire to make a confessional statement.

The judge has directed Bangali to appear before the chief judicial magistrate (CJM) in Pune on June 13 for recording the confessional statement under section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code, special public prosecutor Pradip Gharat, representing the CBI, told TOI after the court proceedings. The judge has directed the CJM to send the confessional statement to the special court by June 21.

Gharat said the court had earlier issued a non-bailable warrant for arresting the sixth absconding suspect Jeetu Harwani for commencing the trial. The charges against Bangali and another suspect Ajay Disle will be framed on the next date of hearing, Gharat stated.

The judge reminded Gharat that one of the suspects, Satpute, has filed a plea expressing his desire to become an approver, but there has been no response from the CBI.

Gharat told the court that he has given intimation of Satpute's plea to the CBI and has given them "two to three" reminders. "I am awaiting necessary instructions from the CBI," Gharat added. The CBI had taken over the investigations in the scam case from the state police in view of a Supreme Court order on March 15, 2004. The scam had led to the recovery of fake stamps and stamp papers worth over Rs 52 lakh. The CBI had filed a chargesheet against the suspects, including the policemen and the others, for allegedly abetting the organised crime syndicate headed by Telgi.

It may be recalled that Telgi was sentenced to 13 years of rigorous imprisonment and fined Rs 251 crore by the special court here in 2007.

Former special judge Chitra Bhedi, who presided over the special court set up under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) had convicted 43 accused, including Telgi, after they had pleaded guilty on June 30, 2007.

The judge, while sentencing Telgi under the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and MCOCA, had slapped the fine - highest-ever imposed by any court in the history of the Indian judiciary.

The scam case registered with the Bund Garden police station in 2002 is regarded as the biggest ever case in India as the recovery of counterfeit stamps and stamp papers is worth over Rs 3,000 crore. The scam case has led to the arrest of senior police officials, politicians, lawyer and others. The state government had set-up a special investigation team to investigate the scam, but the CBI had later taken over several scam cases, following a Supreme Court order.

Dacoity in flat, cops suspect owner's version

          A gang of eight to nine persons stormed the fourth floor of an apartment on Chunchaghatta main road in JP Nagar VII Phase and decamped with Rs 3 lakh in cash and jewellery worth Rs 1 lakh after threatening the resident at knife point on Friday.

          Flat owner Gopikrishna, who owns a bar and restaurant, told police that at 5.45pm, his door bell rang. When he opened it, he found two persons wielding knives at the door.

          The duo entered the flat and made him open the locker. The took the cash and jewellery, locked up Gopikrishna and others inside the house, and fled the scene.

           There were seven to eight people in the flat who did not resist the gang's attempt. "We are checking his version as the apartment complex has 5,000 flats with 40 security guards. Screams for help by those present in the house would have helped prevent the culprits from escaping," said a police officer.

            Joint commissioner of police (crime) Alok Kumar said a case will be registered only after recording the statement of Gopikrishna. He expressed suspicion as a young child in the flat told police that he did not notice anybody entering the flat. "This led us to suspect the version of the victim. But we cannot dismiss it on the face value. We will find out the veracity of his statement and investigate," he said.

The neighbours also said they did not see any suspicious movement on the fourth floor.

Plot to kill Seena was hatched in Gulbarga jail

           The arrest of Shahapur police inspector Rajkumar Bhajanthri on Wednesday for his alleged involvement in the murder plot of undertrial Bettanagere Seena has showed that the plot to kill him originated in the Gulbarga jail.

           Police are now investigating whether the inspector's role in the plot ended at Gulbarga jail or it continued till Mysore when Bettangere Seena was attacked with a pistol on March 10.

          Seena, 34, who is facing over two dozen criminal charges, including six murders, is now in the Mysore Central Jail. He was provided armed security after an attempt on his life by a supari killer Balaji Rao aka Tibet in the jail. Balaji had opened six rounds of fire from a smuggled countrymade revolver on Seena on March 10. Seena escaped with a bullet injury on his shoulder. Police said Seena's first cousin Bettanagere Shankara (29) had given supari to Balaji to eliminate him.

          The rivalry between Seena and Shankara surfaced in 2009 following a difference over an underworld business. Police said till then Seena was using Shankara as a weapon for all his criminal activities. The duo were involved in six murders, including that of a lawyer, before they parted ways.

          They both were in Parappana Agrahara jail in Bangalore before Seena was shifted to Ramanagara jail then to Bellary. From there, he was shifted to Gulbarga jail after he complained of threat from Shankara's aides.

           After the police seized a weapon from supari killers, including Earanna Gugri inside the Gulbarga jail on January 3, Seena was shifted to Mysore Jail two weeks later.

Mysore City police investigation:

         Mysore City police commissioner Sunil Agarwal has directed the investigating officer to check the role of the arrested inspector in the Mysore jail shooting incident.

        Balaji told police that Prem from Seena's native place Bettanagere in Nelamangala taluk of Bangalore rural district gave the revolver when he came to meet him in the jail a week before the attack.

        But Prem, who first confessed to the crime, later changed his statement, police commissioner Sunil Agarwal told TOI.

        Shankara is now in Dharwad jail, his associate Bettanagere Manja is in Belgaum while Balaji Rao is in the Bijapur prison.

Armed gang loots 35 lakh

          A gang of six men looted Rs 35 lakh from three staffers of Shiva Traders, a consumer goods wholesale dealer, around 11.30am on Tuesday. The chopper-wielding robbers drove up i n a black car, waylaid the victims' car on 5th cross of Sector 6 of HSR Layout, threatened them and took the money.

          The robbers broke the glasses of the car with the choppers and threw chilli powder at the men inside. Then, they grabbed two bags containing cash, got into their car and drove away. Nobody was injured in the attack.

           The victims, who could not see anything, also ran away from the car, eyewitnesses said, adding that the number plate of the culprits' car was not clear.

            Four men were transporting the money from their office in Mangammanapalya to two banks near Madiwala — one near the Central Silk Board and another in BTM Layout. While one employee was sitting in front with the driver, Rajashekar Reddy, Shankar and Naveen kept the bags between them on the backseat. While one bag contained Rs 15 lakh, the other had Rs 20 lakh.

The gang was aware of the route taken by the vehicle. As it slowed down near a speed breaker on an isolated road, they forced it to stop.

            The culprits first thre atened Rajashekar and asked him to step out of the car, while the other men started shattering the glasses with their weapons. The gang threw chilli powder on them and took the bags kept inside.

            One of the victims told police that the car used by the robbers had a Maharashtra registration, and that the men spoke Kannada.

             Following the incident, police set up checkposts at various exit points of the division and three teams were created to trace the robbers.

             Joint commissioner of police (crime) Alok Kumar said police suspect the involvement of local gangs in this heist. The fact that they had information on the movement of the vehicle and its route suggests this. A gang which had staged a similar heist in 2008 was arrested and jailed, but was out on bail, and may be involved in Tuesday's robbery, he said.

Rowdy Arrested

             KG Halli police arrested Nana alias Ismail Sherief for allegedly possessing a pistol illegally. Joint commissioner of police (Crime) Alok Kumar said that Ismail was arrested under Goonda Act in March 2009 and released on bail a year later. "On Sunday, police recovered the pistol from him and arrested him. Investigation is on how he managed to get the illegal firearm," he said.