'Lodge, ladies kuthe aahe?'

That's what the five constables looking for prostitutes asked a paanwala; police promise stern action against the accused

It may have been guilt, it may shame. Fact is, none of the five constables who asked villagers for prostitutes in Vita, Sangli, on Wednesday, reported to work yesterday.

Mahesh Jadhav (28), Swaraj Mane and Swapnil Deshmukh from local arms unit 1 and Prashant Shelar (28) and Vinay Sonawane (20) from local arms unit 3 tarnished the image of the police force when they thrashed a lodge owner for refusing to provide prostitutes to them.

Violent ways

Balasaheb Waghmode, sub-divisional police officer, Vita division, said three non-cognizable cases have been registered against the constables. Navneet Dandale (30), a paan vendor, said that the constables came to his stall and asked, 'Lodge aani ladies kuthe aahe?' He added that the accused then thrashed Vijay Jadhav (45), owner of Vijay Raj Lodge, for not co-operating with them.

Santosh Shinde (25), manager of the lodge, said Swapnil and Swaraj barged into the lodge on the pretext of conducting a raid and went wild after they were told that there was no prostitution on the premises. Waghmode confirmed that the constables were drunk.

"We will take stringent action against the guilty," said a police officer. A report into the incident will be submitted to Krishna Prakash, Superintendent of Police (Sangli district) and the Commissioner of Police, Mumbai.
Senior IPS officials condemned the incident.