Conspiracy charge against 2 cops

MUMBAI, May 7: Two of the three policemen who were escorting Feroz Konkani when he escaped from JJ Hospital have been arrested and charged w...

MUMBAI, May 7: Two of the three policemen who were escorting Feroz Konkani when he escaped from JJ Hospital have been arrested and charged with criminal conspiracy. The third, who was injured in the shootout yesterday, succumbed to his injuries today.

Holiday Judge Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate, V V Palnitkar has remanded Sub-inspector Satish Gawte and Constable Suryaji Sawant of the Thane constabulary to police custody till May 14. Meanwhile, crack teams of the Mumbai police have set out on Konkani8217;s trail. A few of these teams have already left for destinations outside the city. Additional Commissioner of Police crime Y C Pawar told Express Newsline that an alert had been sounded in the state and that his department was following some strong leads. He, however, refused to elaborate.

Sources said police believe that Konkani is either holed up in Dongri, a stronghold of his mentor Chhota Shakeel8217;s gang, or has taken the sea route to join his boss in Karachi. The first assumption isbased on a thick dossier that the police maintain on Konkani. It says the sharpshooter had taken shelter in Dongri after killing BJP MLA Ramdas Nayak and had later managed to escape to Bangalore from there. The theory of his escape to Karachi is based the strong links he has with Shakeel who recently shifted his base from Middle-East to Karachi and the status of 8220;safe haven8221; that Karachi has come to enjoy in the underworld. Sources also said that the Chhota Shakeel gang had carried out several dry runs at JJ Hospital in the last 20 days. No wonder then that the operation was one seamless move that ended in a few seconds.

Chief Minister Manohar Joshi too has taken a serious view of lapses that led to Konkani8217;s escape. Today he held a meeting with Additional Chief Secretary home K C Shrivastava and Commissioner of Police R H Mendonca. He later told presspersons that since Konkani was a hardened criminal specific instructions had been issued to police officers escorting him. 8220;However, the orders wereflouted,8221; he said, adding that a high-level inquiry has been ordered to fix the responsibility for the dereliction of duty.