The battle lines were drawn the day Thane's Anti-Extortion Cell picked up Dawood Ibrahim's brother Iqbal Kaskar from Nagpada; Mumbai's Commissioner of Police shoots off letter to higher-ups about Thane police's conduct
Far from taking them one step closer to catching underworld don Dawood Ibrahim, the arrest of his brother Iqbal Kaskar seems to have launched a sort of gang war between the Thane and Mumbai Police. The clash of cops was sparked after Thane officers barged on to Mumbai Police's turf without warning to pick up Kaskar last month.
Mumbai CP D D Padsalgikar
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As many as 25 Thane cops had raided Kaskar's hideout at Gordon Hall Apartments in Nagpada on September 18. Led by ACP NT Kadam and encounter specialist Senior Inspector Pradeep Sharma, the cops stormed into the house and arrested Kaskar on extortion charges. The arrest had been planned well in advance, but the Thane Police kept their strategy under wraps until they got their hands on Kaskar.
Also read - Mumbai: Dawood Ibrahim's brother Iqbal Kaskar booked for extortion under MCOCA
Thane CP Param Bir Singh have both complained to higher-ups about each other's forces trespassing on their respective territories
Needless to say, Mumbai's Commissioner of Police (CP) Datta Padsalgikar did not take kindly to his force being left out of the loop. Protocol demands that when police officers are investigating or making an arrest outside their jurisdiction, they must inform the local police about it. However, according to sources, the Thane cops neglected to intimate the Nagpada police about their plan. Upset with their conduct, Padsalgikar wrote to the Additional Chief Secretary (Home) about the matter.
Iqbal Kaskar
'Unnecessary risk'
Sanjay Daswat, senior inspector at Nagpada police station, told mid-day, "When the Thane police team came here, they did not inform us, even though it is the protocol for such big arrests."
Also read - Extortion case: MCOCA invoked against Iqbal Kaskar, Chhota Shakeel
"If the local police are kept informed, they can help the raiding team with local knowledge, including providing information of possible complications or retaliation. Sometimes, the family of the accused is unaware of the arrest and they approach the cops to file a missing complaint. In such cases too, it helps if the local police know about the arrest," said an officer from south Mumbai.
Thane Police's Senior Inspector Pradeep Sharma (centre) arrested Iqbal Kaskar (in yellow) from Gordon Hall Apartments in Nagpada on September 18
He added, "This procedure is not followed all the time, but in such high-profile arrests, there are chances of a law-and-order crisis. The Thane police should not have taken such a risk without informing us."
The cop suggested that the reason for keeping the operation hush-hush could have been the fear of someone tipping Kaskar off. "In past cases, the accused had managed to flee from their hideouts after they were tipped off by the local police. This created distrust in the force," said the Mumbai cop.
Thane team in the dark
Sources said that even the Thane team that conducted the raid were kept in the dark about the operation till the very end. When they departed from Thane, the team members were told that they were merely escorting some accused to Byculla jail. The cops were even driven to the prison, just a few kilometres away from Gordon Hall Apartments. A man was sent to the hideout to check if Kaskar was there, and only after getting confirmation was the team of 25 informed of their real mission.
The cops deliberately did not take police vehicles with beacons, to avoid alerting Kaskar's lookouts of their presence. In an area like Nagpada, any outsider is instantly identified. This is why they went in civilian vehicles. None of the team members were wearing police uniforms.
Also read: Third extortion case against Kaskar and first against Dawood Ibrahim filed
The cops sent one officer to ring the bell. Oblivious to the two-dozen cops waiting outside, a servant opened the door. Six of the officer stormed into the house and found Kaskar eating dinner while watching Kaun Banega Crorepati on TV. Despite repeated attempts to contact SI Pradeep Sharma, he remained unavailable for comment.
The other side
Param Bir Singh, Thane CP, said, "These claims that procedure was not followed are false."
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