Cop decamps with recovered loot

PUNE, Sept 20: In a case of the fence eating the grass, a head constable of the Pune railway station has performed the vanishing trick af...

PUNE, Sept 20: In a case of the fence eating the grass, a head constable of the Pune railway station has performed the vanishing trick after allegedly misappropriating cash and ornaments worth Rs 1.69 lakh seized in various theft cases. Taking serious note of the mysterious disappearance of 38-year-old head constable Prakash Vinayak Bhosale, superintendent of police (Railway) Sanjay Pande has launched a massive manhunt to track down themissing policeman.

Besides directing its personnel to keep their eyes open for Bhosale while patrolling, railway police officials have also sought the help of their counterparts in Pune and elsewhere to search for Prakash. Prakash Bhosale is reported to be missing since August 15. However, the pilferage came to light only after the railway police carried out an inventory of articles seized as evidence in various crimes recently.

Railway police officials on Friday lodged a First Information Report (FIR) accusing Bhosale of misappropriating Rs 1.49 in cash and some gold and silver jewelry.

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According to railway police officials, Prakash Bhosale was last seen walking out of the police station after duty hours on August 15. His disappearance was initially not taken seriously as his superiors attributed his delay in reporting for duty to some personal problem or other.

The fact that the head constable had done the vanishing act came to light only after Bhosale did not report for duty for five consecutive days. Anxious to know why Bhosale was absent, some of his colleagues visited his residence at Krishna building at Akurdi only to discover that he had not gone there either.

A search was launched for Bhosale, after his wife Shalini lodged a missing persons case with the Railway police on August 20. All the policemen patrolling trains and platforms of various railway stations were directed to start looking for Bhosale after the missing persons case was filed. However, Bhosale could not be traced.

Concerned about Bhosale’s prolonged disappearance, Superintendent of Police (Railway) Sanjay Pande ordered for an inventory of the seized booty which was in the head constable’s possession as he was posted as the muddemal karkun. The final tally revealed that some cash, gold bangles and gold rings were missing.

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Bhosale, railway police officials said, was transferred to the police station at Pune railway station from the Special Protection Unit in 1997. He had resumed duty as the muddemal karkun – the policeman who looks after the seizure – on January 28, 1997.

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