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Journalism of Courage
‘Reel star’ among 3 Pune cops booked for extorting Rs 7 lakh from principal over false Pocso case
Constable Sonali Hinge is attached to the police’s Damini all-women squad and known for her social media reels.
Constable Sonali Hinge is attached to Pune’s Shivajinagar police station. (Photo by special arrangement)
The Bundgarden police in Pune booked three police personnel, including one known for her social media videos, on Thursday for allegedly extorting Rs 7 lakh from a college principal by threatening to implicate him in a case of sexual harassment of a minor girl student.
The 55-year-old principal of a polytechnic college in Pune city alleged in the FIR that the police personnel—identified as Sub-Inspector Ajit Bade and constables Sudam Tayde and Sonali Hinge—misled a minor girl from the college into filing a false complaint against him between July 18 and 28, 2025.
The three police personnel then allegedly threatened to arrest the principal under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) Act, blackmailed him, and extorted Rs 7 lakhs from him.
Inspector Varsha Deshmukh of the Crime Branch inquired into the girl’s complaint and found that the three police personnel had forced her to file it and extorted Rs 7 lakh from the principal, officials said.
An officer said that while the police were yet to make any arrest in the principal’s case, Inspector Ashwini Jagtap of the Crime Branch was investigating it to gather evidence against the accused police personnel.
Ajit Bade is attached to the cyber police station, while Tayade and Hinge are posted at the Shivajinagar police station.
Hinge is attached to the police’s Damini all-women squad and known to be a “Reel star” in police circles because of her short videos on social media. She has been a Kabaddi player, holds MCom and MPhil degrees, and is pursuing a PhD, as per information she has shared on social media.
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The three accused have been booked under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita sections 308 (2), 308 (6), 61 (2), 3 (5) on charges including extortion.
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