Gujarat Police begins process to have its own head constable prosecuted under GujCTOC Act following arrest in prohibition case
The case pertains to the recent arrest of a head constable by the State Monitoring Cell (SMC) that functions directly under the office of the chief of Gujarat Police.
Head Constable Sajan Virabhai Vasrani is accused of taking bribe in lieu of smooth passage of a consignment of liquor, which is prohibited in the state.
If it comes through, Vasrani's prosecution would become the first such case of a policeman being booked under the law that came into force in 2019.
On July 19, the SMC received information that the driver of a heavy vehicle was transporting a gas capsule container filled with Indian Made Foreign Liquor (IMFL). On the Bharuch-Vadodara highway, the Vadodara Rural Police stopped, searched and seized the consignment. The Local Crime Branch (LCB) of Vadodara Rural Police seized 20,340 bottles of IMFL worth Rs 1.73 crore and arrested one Fagluram Umaram Jat. Two others, Anil Jagdish Prasad and Manish Bhaiji, were declared 'wanted' and booked under sections of the Gujarat Prohibition Act on July 20.
However, the SMC said in its statement on Saturday, it received information that the members of this bootlegging gang had allegedly paid a bribe of Rs 15 lakh for the consignment to be transported through Gujarat unmolested.
In its statement, the SMC said it found 'that the accused persons had paid a bribe of Rs 15 lakh to someone known only as Rahulbhai in Bharuch. The money was transferred to Gandhinagar via angadia (a traditional, informal courier system) with instructions that the amount was payable to a person bearing a specific Rs 10 note.
The sender of the IMFL consignment, Anil alias Pandia Jagdishprasad Jat of Rajasthan, had sent the Rs 15 lakh by angadia the same day, according to the statement. On the other end, a man named Hardik had taken possession of Rs 5 lakh from the angadia firm and had further sent the other Rs 10 lakh via same mode to a man named Rakesh, in Junagadh, the statement further said.
In Junagadh, this amount of Rs 10 lakh was picked up by a man named Rocky, allegedly on the instructions of Vasrani who turned out to be a Police Head Constable posted with the SMC itself in Gandhinagar, according to the statement.
On June 23, DGP Vikas Sahay transferred Vasrani to his parent police department in Dwarka district, placed him under suspension, and initiated an SMC-led departmental inquiry against him.
On the other hand, the SMC alleged that Vasrani switched his phone off and went underground the day he was transferred.
However, he was apprehended by his colleagues at the SMC on July 25 under section 35(1)(j) (arrest without warranty) of the BNSS (Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita), and was handed over to Vadodara Rural Police as accused in the FIR filed under the Prohibition Act.
The SMC statement said that it had obtained and filed as evidence five voice recordings between Head Constable Vasrani and Jat, who is the main accused in the case filed under GujCTOC Act.
The SMC has now begun proceedings to have Vasrani added to the same FIR.
DIG Nirlipt Rai told The Indian Express, 'There is a process to book someone under GujCTOC. For that, we have to gather the evidence, and then we will file our report before the Inspector General (IG) of the Border Range, who has jurisdiction over Dwarka. The Range IG will then decide whether to add him to the FIR. GujCTOC is meant to take action against those helping people engaged in organised crime.'
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