Faced allegations of disproportionate assets in past: Court orders inquiry over cop in Malegaon probe accused of ‘planting evidence’

On Thursday, Special Judge AK Lahoti while pronouncing the order said that the copy of the judgement will be sent to DGP Maharashtra, DG ATS and DG NIA, recommending an inquiry. The judge also sought that authorities look into manipulation of medical certificates of six of the 101 persons injured in the blast and certificates issued by unauthorised medical practitioners, ‘at the instance of the ATS’.

Earlier, the Supreme Court order of August 2017 while granting bail to Lt Col Prasad Purohit mentioning the role of Assistant Police Inspector Bagde said, “..During scrutiny of the proceedings of the Court of Inquiry (CoI) carried out by the Army, a different story of assembling of IED in the House of Sudhakar Chaturvedi (A-11) came to light. During re-examination of the witnesses by the NIA who deposed before the Court of Inquiry (CoI), it was revealed that they suspiciously found API Bagde of ATS in the house of A-11 when A-11 was not present in the house…On considering the facts narrated by the witnesses, the question arises here as to why API Bagde visited the house of A-11 in his absence..”

During his deposition as witness, Bagde denied all the allegations and said that the claims were made by the accused as an afterthought to save themselves.

When contacted by The Indian Express, Bagde refused to speak on the issue.

Bagde who hails from Nashik first hit the news in June 2023, when he was the senior inspector of the Manpada police station in Thane.

While the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shinde Shiv Sena were in alliance, the local BJP functionaries of Kalyan Dombivli had passed a resolution that till the time Bagde was not transferred, they would not help the Shinde Sena candidate.

Bagde had filed a molestation case against a local BJP functionary which the local party workers claimed was fake and had protested outside the police station. Following this Bagde had reportedly been sent on leave for a few days.

A week later the then Leader of Opposition Ajit Pawar had sought an enquiry into the assets allegedly owned by Bagde. Pawar had claimed that Bagde owned a three-storey commercial property in Deolali, Nashik, as well as a flat in Sumangal Residency and shops and commercial plots in Tirumala Heights.

Bagde has also allegedly invested in Riddhi Siddhi Construction and owns a flat in Mahavir Amrut Society in Sanpada, Navi Mumbai. Additionally, Pawar claimed that Bagde possesses agricultural land in Pandurli and Igatpuri.

Expressing astonishment at the extent of Bagde’s property ownership, Pawar questioned how a police officer could amass such wealth.

Pawar cited complaints filed against Bagde by numerous individuals and insisted that an investigation be launched into Bagde’s assets.

Later, NCP leader Jitendra Awhad too had tweeted allegations against Bagde alleging that the property list read out by Pawar was not even 20 per cent of the total property owned by Bagde.

Bagde has in the past been awarded the Kendriya Grihmantri Dakshata Padak and DG medal and has been part of some important crime detections.