Cop extorts Rs 1.4 lakh from paanwala

An official from the Mumbai Police force's Crime Branch wing was arrested by the Goregaon police on charges of extorting money from paan shop owners in Goregaon West. As per the police report, the accused identified as PI Bhaskar Dheere on July 5, had visited the complainant Shafique Shaikh's shop in the Jawahar Nagar locality of Goregaon. He accused Shaikh of selling fake gutka brands and threatened him that he would book him so that he would spend five years behind the bars. Dheere then demanded money from Shaikh. Shaikh told the police that he had Rs.1.40 lakh in his drawer which the police took from him by force and left the spot in his police vehicle. Police Inspector, Sambhaji Patil of the Goregaon police station said that after filing a complaint, Shaikh who is a committee member of paan shop owners association in the area, alerted all the shop owners and asked them to alert in turn if the extortionist approached them to demand money. On July 9, Shaikh received a call from a paan shop owner in Malad who told him that a police officer had extorted Rs.20,000 from him. Shaikh asked the victim to wait while he set off to chase the vehicle. Meanwhile, he also alerted beat marshal's near Dindoshi police station who intercepted Dheere's vehicle. At the station, officials siad that the complaint was with the Goregaon police station so Dheere was taken there and arrested. Shaikh's complaint was against four people, including Dheere and the police are yet to find the other three. Dheere was produced in court yesterday and remanded to police custody till July 13. Plice will interrogate Dheere to know the details of his accomplices. Reported by      AR