New round of arrests, now for poor policing

After targeting policemen paid off by the mastermind of the fake stamp racket, investigators are now gunning for their colleagues who deliberately dragged the case.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) has arrested a sub-inspector for breach of trust and for framing an incorrect record. Though he is the tenth police officer to be arrested by the SIT, Surendra R. Dalvi was not charged under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act. All the other policemen arrested in the case have been charged under the Act.

Dalvi, an officer with the

Versova police in north Mumbai, was arrested on Monday and remanded in police custody till November 17.

Dalvi’s involvement in the scam dates to 1999-2000 when he was with the Oshiwara police station and a case of fake stamps was registered. Dalvi, as the investigating officer, had arrested a person and seized counterfeit material. Instead of investigating the case, he let the accused get away on bail.