Cop held for bribe-taking returns to ACB as complainant

MUMBAI, FEBRUARY 3: A police officer suspended from service for five years after the Anti-Corruption Bureau ACB arrested him on charges...

MUMBAI, FEBRUARY 3: A police officer suspended from service for five years after the Anti-Corruption Bureau ACB arrested him on charges of bribery, returned to the bureau on Monday 8211; this time to seek retribution of sorts.

Unable to erase the stain of a corrupt bureaucracy, Sub-Inspector Dilip Rane name changed however managed to stare temptation straight in the face when he found himself at the other end of the deal on Monday.

Rane was arrested by the ACB on April 18, 1991, on charges of demanding Rs 1,000 from a shipping agent. He had told the agent he would book him with assault if he failed to pay up. The police officer, who was attached to the Dongri police station then, was however arrested after the agent lodged a complaint with the ACB. He was also suspended from service shortly thereafter but was reinstated in February 1996 following orders from the special court.

Rane was acquitted two years later, on April 18, 1998, with the court directing that his dues be expeditiously settled. Theofficer was paid only 75 per cent of his salary during the suspension period, while 25 per cent was withheld till the inquiry was completed.

During the seven years since he was arrested, Rane8217;s dues had mounted to over Rs 75,000. However, several trips to the office of the deputy commissioner of police as well as Mantralaya drew a blank. Five letters and a reminder also failed to move Head Clerk Sarjerao Ramchandra Chavan, whose dilly-dallying separated Rane from his dues.

On February 1, Chavan finally told Rane he would settle his dues if he handed over Rs 5,000. Rane was stunned. 8220;This was the first time someone had demanded a bribe from me,8221; he told Express Newsline.

Planning to get even, the sub-inspector decided to call his bluff. Agreeing to make the payment in instalments, the police officer said he would pay Rs 500 on Monday evening. Instead, he lodged a complaint with the ACB, whose officers laid a trap for Chavan and his superior, Jayant Arekar. The latter is a Class-II administrativeofficer at Mantralaya. By sheer misfortune, Arekar had also turned up when the money was changing hands. The administrative officer, months away from retirement, butted into the transaction and told Chavan he could keep the money when Rane handed it over. But since Rane, who had scarcely interacted with Arekar while trying to wrest his dues, had not registered a complaint against him. Though both Chavan and Arekar were nabbed, ACB sources said the latter may be let off lightly.