Bombay HC grants anticipatory bail to 3 GRP cops booked for ‘extorting’ Rs 30,000 from Rajasthan jeweller

The jeweller alleged that the GRP officers threatened him and his daughter with jail terms after checking their bags.

Mumbai | September 15, 2025 01:36 PM IST

3 min read

The GRP officers approached the Bombay HC after a sessions court denied relief to them following their suspension. (File Photo)

The Bombay High Court Monday granted anticipatory bail to three policemen belonging to the Government Railway Police (GRP) who were booked for allegedly threatening, assaulting and extorting money from a Rajasthan-based jeweller at Mumbai Central railway station last month.

The GRP officers approached the Bombay HC after a sessions court denied relief to them following their suspension.

While granting pre-arrest bail to Rahul Bhosale, Lalit Jagtap and Anil Rathod, a single-judge bench of Justice Nitin R Borkar accepted an argument made through advocate Aniket Nikam that the incident mentioned in the complaint was “over-exaggerated”.

The HC directed that in the event the applicants are arrested, they should be released on furnishing personal bond of Rs 25,000 each, and they should not contact witnesses and attend the investigating officer this week.

The jeweller complained against the three officers, alleging that on August 10, while he was travelling to Rajasthan from Mumbai with his daughter, a police officer without an identity badge approached the two and asked them to open their bags for checking.

As per the FIR, the police found Rs 31,900 in cash and a gold piece of 14 grams. The officer allegedly took the jeweller and his daughter to a room for “inquiry” about the cash, and threatened them with a jail term.

As per the jeweller, he was forced to sign on a paper, after which the police returned the gold and Rs 1,900, but kept Rs 30,000 with them.

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The three police officers, in their plea, alleged that the FIR was filed with a delay of five days, and they were falsely implicated. According to the government lawyer, the delay occurred because the jeweller had travelled back to his hometown in Rajasthan. He contacted the police afterwards, and the case was then transferred to Mumbai, as per the government lawyer.

It was also argued that the GRP officers did not follow laid-down procedures for conducting checks, including making an entry in the register and conducting the search under CCTV surveillance instead of doing it inside a room.

While rejecting the pre-arrest bail plea, Additional Sessions Judge Prashant Kale had noted that custodial interrogation of the officers was required to bring out the truth, and if they were granted relief, they would know that they were well-protected.

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