Extortion by cops: Gujarat HC takes Suo Motu cognizance, seeks Action Taken Report from CP

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat High Court has today taken suo motu cognizance of an incident in which three policemen extorted Rs. 60,000 sum from a couple who was travelling late at night from airport to their home in South Bopal area of Ahmedabad with their 1-year old child after returning from vacation in Thailand.

A Bench of Chief Justice Sunita Agarwal and Justice Aniruddha P Mayee took note of a newspaper report and said: We call upon the city police commissioner to submit an action taken report in this case along with an affidavit of a gazetted officer from the office of the Ahmedabad Police Commissioner by the next date of hearing on September 11.

Details of the case

Sola High Court Police has registered a complaint given by a complainant under IPC sections 384 and 144 and arrested TRB Jawan named Vishal Solanki and two police personnel, namely Mukesh Chaudhary (ASI) and Ashok Patel (Constable). Police later added Prevention of Corruption Act sections against the accused cops.

The complainant is a 33-year-old businessman from South Bopal, Milanbhai Kela, who owns a Marutinandan Proteins packing unit in Changodar industrial area in the city.

Milanbhai in his complaint stated that on 25 August at around 1.30 a.m. he was coming from SVPI International Airport (after arriving from Bangkok on an international flight) with his one-year-old child and wife in an Uber taxi. The car was stopped by two policemen who were in civil dress on SP ring road near the Ognaj toll tax booth. There was a Bolero car parked nearby with two persons in police dress along with two to three persons in civil dress.

A person in civil dress asked – ‘why are you out so late, from where are you coming? You have made a breach of notification. We have to file a complaint against you.’

They then made Milanbhai sit in the Bolero police van. Two persons, one in police dress and another in civil dress sat with Milanbhai in a police vehicle, while the other in police uniform entered into the Uber car in which Milanbhai’s wife and child were sitting along with the Uber driver.

The cops switched off the mobile phones of the husband – and wife and kept them in their possession. Later both cars were taken to some unidentified place. A person sitting in Bolero wearing a police dress asked Milanbhai to pay Rs. 2 lakh and issued a threat to jail him otherwise in some crime that would attract three-year imprisonment.

Milanbhai in his complaint further says that he was in fear and he replied he did not have so much money. Milanbhai pleaded that he had a small child with him and he could pay Rs. 10,000 at present. The policemen started bargaining and finalized Rs. 60,000 payment for which they took Milanbhai to Ganesh Glory building-based SBI ATM in the Jagatpur area. Milanbhai withdrew Rs. 40,000 from the ATM returned to the car and paid it to the person who was in police dress. However, Milanbhai was asked to pay another Rs. 20,000. Milanbhai’s wife Priyankaben was told by cops to deposit Rs. 20,000 in Uber car driver Dipak Patel’s mobile phone through Google Pay. Accordingly, Priyankaben paid Rs. 20,000 online to driver Dipak Patel through Google Pay.

Then the policemen told driver Dipakbhai to withdraw Rs. 20,000 from ATM from his account. Accordingly, Milanbhai and Dipakbhai went to SBI ATM and withdrew Rs. 20,000, from driver Dipakbhai’s account. Thus the police men took Rs. 60,000 in total from Milanbhai and his wife. They further issued a threat that this incident must not be reported anywhere or there shall be bitter consequences of that.

Then the cops returned the mobile phones of the husband-wife and released them with their Uber taxi.

Milanbhai returned home with his wife and a child and shared the details of a shocking incident with his father, Accordingly, a police complaint was registered by Milan Kela at Sola High Court police station on August 26. DeshGujarat