Three cops attached to Dattawadi police station conspire with a hawala agent, held for looting Rs 45 from a trader lakh carrying hawala cash of Rs 5 crore

Pune : Policenama online – Pune Crime | Three policemen attached to the Dattawadi police station conspired with a city-based hawala agent and looted Rs 45 lakh from a vehicle carrying Rs 5 crore hawala cash from Nashik to Mumbai. The incident came to light after a hawala agent from Pune was arrested by the Narpoli police. (Pune Crime)

Later, the Narpoli police arrested the trio. API Chetan Patil revealed this. The accused cops have been identified as Ganesh Balasaheb Shinde (35), a resident of Baramati, Ganesh Maruti Kamble (34), a resident of Daund and Dilip Maroti Pilane (32), a resident of Mohammadwadi. They are attached to the Dattawadi police station. The arrested hawala agent has been identified as Babubhai Rajaram Solanki (47).

A 59-year-old trader lodged a complaint at the Narpoli police station. The incident took place at around 7.30 am on March 8 in front of Indian Oil petrol pump at Dive village near Bhiwandi on Nashik-Mumbai highway.

According to the police, the complainant is a steel trader. Solanki is his brother-in-law. The three policemen and Solanki know each other. Solanki works as a hawala agent. Solanki knew that the complainant was carrying the hawala money to Mumbai. He told this to the three cops. They conspired to loot the complainant. They travelled to Bhiwandi. They were waiting to strike at the petrol pump.

Solanki gestured to the policemen that the vehicle carrying the money was approaching. They stopped the vehicle and told its occupants that they wanted to check the vehicle as it had a lot of cash. They looted Rs 45 lakh out of Rs 5 crore and escaped.

The complainant went to Mumbai and delivered the cash to the person concerned. After discussing the matter with the businessman, to whom the cash belonged, the complainant lodged a complaint on March 10 at the Narpoli police station.

API Chetan Patil detected that Solanki’s mobile was active at the crime spot. He arrested Solanki from Pune. The names of three policemen cropped during his interrogation. Later, the trio were traced and arrested.

Crime on duty

The three accused policemen left Pune on their weekly off on March 7 and reached Bhiwandi in the wee hours on March 8. They reported to their duty on the same day. They were also on duty on March 9. They absconded after the complaint was lodged on March 10.

However, the Narpoli police tracked and arrested them.

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