Mumbai Police Crime Branch has named suspended IPS officer Saurabh Tripathi's father Neelkanth Tripathi as a wanted accused in the Angadia extortion case.
The police on Friday also presented Tripathi's brother-in-law Ashutosh Mishra before a local court for custody. The magistrate remanded Mishra, an assistant commissioner of Central Goods and Service Tax department from Basti district in Uttar Pradesh, in police custody till April 11. Mishra is the fifth person to be named as a wanted accused in the case.
Meanwhile, another case of extortion has come to the fore against Tripathi.
The case pertains to the extortion of Rs 55 lakh from a businessman in the Malabar Hill area of Mumbai. The statement of the businessman had been recorded however, a case had not been registered so far.
The Angadia extortion case pertains to a complaint made by the Angadia association in December last year to a senior Mumbai Police officer alleging that Saurabh Tripathi threatened 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.
DCP Tripathi used to send money allegedly extorted from angadias (couriers) to Uttar Pradesh through the hawala channel. 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.
Mumbai Crime Branch team is on the look out for IPS officer Saurabh Tripathi, who has been absconding for a month, and two teams of the Crime Branch are present in Uttar Pradesh in search of Tripathi.
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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