When the line blurred

Prakash Wani is one of the five policemen who rubbed shoulders with Chhota Rajans aides at the controversial Christmas party,accompanied by his daughter and son-in-law. In 1998,when he was an Inspector posted at Chembur Police Station,Wani was alleged to be associated with the underworld. The then Mumbai Police Commissioner,Ronnie Mendonca,had tried to transfer him,along with some other tainted policemen. However,Wani got a UN deputation to the mission in Kosovo. After his return from Kosovo,Wani has been posted in different capacities in the eastern suburbs of Mumbai. Top officers are learnt to have warned him about his conduct. The departmental probe initiated against the five policemen will look into his possible nexus with the cable TV mafia monopolised by the Rajan gang in the eastern suburbs.

Vishwasrao N Salve,Deputy Commissioner of Police Special Branch 1

Until the Christmas party,Vishwasrao N Salve,a low-profile officer,had usually stayed away from the headlines. He began his career as a Sub-Inspector and was subsequently promoted to the IPS cadre. His earlier postings include DCP Port Zone and a stint at the state police headquarters. Salve was due to retire from service in six months time. Incidentally,just a few days after the Christmas party,Salves wife,Hemlata,approached the Matunga police claiming that a 12-bore double barrel rifle registered in her name was missing. She claimed that in August 2008,she had given the rifle to an orderly posted at their residence to get it serviced,and had forgotten about it. A case of criminal breach of trust was registered against the orderly by the police.

Ramesh Khakale,Senior Police Inspector Chembur; Nivrutti Kolhatkar,Assistant Police Inspector Anti-Extortion Cell; Rajendra Ghorpade,Police Constable Chembur

Very little is known about these three policemen,who were suspended along with Wani and Salve for attending the party. The party was organised at the Chembur Gymkhana,and Khakale was in charge of the local police station. The Chembur area,where Rajan grew up,is considered a stronghold of his gang. His brother Deepak Nikhalje recently contested the Assembly elections from Chembur constituency. The two policemen from Chembur will now be probed for possibly aiding the gangs illegal activities in the area.

Pradeep Sharma,Police Inspector

Once one of Mumbai Polices famed encounter specialists,Inspector Pradeep Sharma was dismissed from the force after the then Mumbai Police Commissioner,Hasan Gafoor,served him dismissal orders under Article 311 of the Constitution for his unsatisfactory prior record. His dismissal followed a probe into his alleged links with the underworld.

Sharma,who joined the Mumbai Police in 1983,has the highest number of encounter victims to his name in the state,logging a total of 107 killings. He has the distinction of having been featured on Time magazines cover. Some notorious criminals slain in operations supervised by Sharma include Dawood Ibrahims close aide Sadiq Kalya in Dadar in 1999,Rafiq Dabbawala of the Subhash Thakur gang in 2001,Vinod Matkar of the Chhota Rajan gang,and three alleged LeT terrorists in 2003.

He was posted as the head of the Kandivili unit of the Mumbai Police Crime Branch and later shifted to D N Nagar Police Station. Along with five other policemen,Sharma was transferred out of Mumbai when being probed for the alleged custody death of 2002 Ghatkopar bomb blast accused Khwaja Yunus. Sharma was exonerated by the state CID and was posted at the main control room at the Mumbai Police headquarters before being dismissed.

Aslam Momin,Police Inspector

In July 2005,the then Police Commissioner,A N Roy,exercised his powers under Article 311 to sack Inspector Aslam Momin for his alleged nexus with the Dawood Ibrahim gang. According to the police,Momin,another encounter specialist,was found to have links with Dawood and his brothers Noora and Iqbal.

Momin was posted at the important Andheri Crime Intelligence Unit of Mumbai Police along with Sharma and Daya Nayak. He allegedly began having conversations with Iqbal Kaskar that were secretly recorded by the police. Momin was later posted at Units 2,7 and 8 of the Crime Branch. He handled cases such as the probe into bookie Shobhan Mehtas connections with cricket players and a fake passport racket that was unearthed when Chhota Rajans close aide,Balu Dokre,was killed in Malaysia. The police found that Dokre was living in Malaysia,using a passport in the name of a fictitious marketing manager,Suresh Krishnakant Sharma. Further investigation uncovered a large fake passports racket. A total of 14 people were arrested in the case,including two constables.

Daya Nayak,Sub-Inspector

Currently under suspension,Sub-Inspector Daya Nayak is one of the most well-known encounter specialists with 84 killings to his name. In January 2006,the Anti-Corruption Bureau raided Nayaks residence and booked him for having assets disproportionate to his known sources of income. After a non-bailable warrant was issued against him,Nayak surrendered and was taken into custody. He was immediately suspended from his post at Charkop Police Station. Nayak is under suspension,but the ACB is yet to file a chargesheet against him.

Hailing from Yennehole village in the Udupi district of Karnataka,Nayak moved to Mumbai in 1979. He worked for some time at an Udupi restaurant,and was encouraged to complete his education by its owner. Nayak joined the police force in 1995 at Juhu Police Station,and,while he was posted at the Crime Intelligence Unit,shot to fame as a crackshot.

Nayak,known for his intelligence network,was popular in Bollywood circles as well. The film Ab Tak Chhappan is supposedly based on his life. Amitabh Bachchan was present at the inauguration of a school set up by Nayak at his native village.

In 2003,journalist Ketan Tirodkar submitted a complaint at the Special MCOCA court alleging that he,along with Nayak,had helped the mafia locate potential victims for fake encounters and to settle nefarious deals. However,while the police filed a chargesheet against Tirodkar under MCOCA,Nayak was cleared due to lack of evidence. He was subsequently booked by the ACB.