Two Mumbai cops held for selling seized cigarettes worth Rs 2 crore

Some of the seized cigarettes. Pic /Hanif Patel

Two more cops from Waliv police station have been booked and arrested for allegedly selling seized foreign brand cigarettes' over worth Rs 2 crore from the police station's custody. Earlier, the Waliv police had arrested an assistant sub-inspector identified as Sharif Shaikh who was in charge of seized goods in the same case. When the matter came to light, an enquiry was conducted by the Palghar SP Gaurav Singh and during the investigation, it was revealed that two more cops were involved with ASI Sharif Shaikh in the crime. Taking the initiative today, the Waliv police booked two cops identified as Ravindra Sukdev Sable, a police constable and Ramdas Vitthal Chavan, a head constable in the late evening.

The incident came to light when the tempo owner carrying the cigarettes' filed for return of property and the court asked the police to return it. When the police counted the bags, they found 100 of the 150 bags of cigarettes missing. An assistant police sub-inspector attached to Waliv police station was arrested on 11 September for allegedly selling cigarettes worth Rs 2.16 crore that had been seized. He allegedly sold them in the market.

The police had seized a tempo carrying 150 bags of Gudang Garam brand cigarettes worth Rs 3.24 crore in December 2018. During the inquiry, it was revealed that ASI Sharif Shaikh, who was in charge of the seized material, allegedly sold 100 of the 150 bags in the market. Shaikh was arrested and will be in police custody till September 16.

Also Read: Mumbai Crime: Cop held for selling seized foreign cigarettes worth over Rs 2 crore

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