Hero se zero: Decorated cop nabbed

The amount was the first instalment of the Rs 5 lakh that Shaikh had originally demanded from Singh for not registering a case against his friend Captain Sahi in a two-year-old dispute involving a Ukranian and British shipping company.

The ACB laid a trap on Saturday evening, following a complaint registered by Inderpal Singh. Shaikh was arrested and produced before the Additional Metropolitan Magistrate Holambe Patil, who released him on a bail of Rs 10,000 today afternoon.

Senior police officials have been shocked at the controversial officer’s recommendation for a police medal by a committee which includes the Director General of Police, Maharashtra, and the Police Commissioner of Mumbai. A case under Prevention of Corruption Act had already been registered against Shaikh when he was with LT Marg police station in February 1993.

It was alleged that Shaikh had snatched a bag containing Rs 2 lakh from a trader in Zaveri Bazar. The officer was let off only after a veteran film personality intervened on his behalf.

Shaikh, whose name was announced for the police medal on August 15, was to receive the award along with 25 other officers from the state on Republic Day. The medal is likely to be held in abeyance.

Senior ACB officials told Express Newsline that this was the first ever case of a police official being trapped for accepting a bribe soon after getting a medal.

“This is an attempt to malign me,” Shaikh told Express Newsline. He threatened to lodge a defamation case against I P Singh.

According to IP Singh, Shaikh visited Captain Sahi’s office on August 7, accompanied by two constables, and said he had come to enquire about a complaint made by a Ukrainian company over non-payment of dues.

As Capt Sahi was away, Shaikh conveyed his demand to his friend I P Singh. The two arranged to meet in Sahi’s office on Saturday, where Singh was to pay him the full amount of Rs 5 lakh.

Meanwhile, Singh had already informed the ACB who laid a trap for Shaikh at Captain Sahi’s office on P M Road, Fort. Shaikh, who was in uniform, was caught by the ACB team as he left the office with the marked currency notes.The original dispute involved two companies, the Ukrainian Merton Shipping owners of the vessel `Nikolay Nekrasov’ and Sea Star container lines, UK, which hired the ship in 1995. A dispute arose over non-payment of demurrage and short-landing of cargo for a shipment of 11,500 tonnes of salt shipped from Kandla to Dar-E-Salaam. Sea Star owed Merton shipping 120,000 US dollars for unpaid demurrage.

Since the British company had reportedly turned bankrupt, the Ukrainian owners decided to recover their dues from their Mumbai-based agent.