Mumbai's Crime Branch arrested a person from Uttar Pradesh's Lucknow for allegedly handling hawala money of Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Saurabh Tripathi, an accused in the Angadia extortion case.
The Crime Branch team reached Mumbai with the accused and will produce him before a court on Sunday. However, the police have not revealed the name of the arrested person.
DCP Tripathi used to send money received from angadias (courier) extortion racket to Uttar Pradesh through the hawala channel, Mumbai Police said.
Angadia extortion case pertains to a complaint made by the Angadia association in December last year to a senior Mumbai Police officer that Saurabh Tripathi is threatening angadia operators and its employees with an Income Tax raid and extorted Rs 15-18 lakh from them. Later, angadia operators approached Mumbai police commissioner Hemant Nagrale and filed a complaint. Following this, the commissioner ordered an inquiry into the case.
In the extortion case, the Crime Branch has so far arrested a total of four accused, out of which three are police officers.
Saurabh Tripathi, who is a resident of Uttar Pradesh's Kanpur, is missing. A total of 5 teams have been constituted for the investigation. Tripathi filed an anticipatory bail plea in Sessions Court in connection with the angadia extortion case. The hearing on the plea is posted for March 23.
In the last hearing in the magistrate's court on March 15, the Crime Branch had informed the court that DCP Saurabh Tripathi has been made an accused in the case based on the statements of the other accused. The Crime Branch team also told the court that Tripathi was not reporting for his duty and that is why they were looking for him as a wanted accused.
The police had earlier suspended three officers for allegedly extorting Rs 15-18 lakh from an angadia operator. Later, the officers - Nitin Kadam (API), Samadaan Jamdade (Sub Inspector) and Om Vangate were arrested.
( With inputs from ANI )
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