After riot report, former ACP gets eviction notice

The Mumbai police has given a two-day notice to retired assistant commissioner of police Shamsher Pathan to vacate the police quarters he has been occupying even after his retirement on May 31, 2012. The notice comes after MiD DAY reported about a police probe that revealed that former cop gave shelter to 15-20 rioters of the August 11 violence at his residential quarters inside the Dongri police station compound.

ACP Samsher Pathan

"A notice has been pasted on the wall of the European Police Quarters premises in Dongri," confirmed Additional Commissioner of Police Krushna Prakash.u00a0The former ACP, however, told MiD DAY that it was just a routine notice he gets periodically.

European Police Quarters in Dongri where ex-ACP Samsher Pathan resides. Pic/Satyajit Desai

"I am paying rent for the accommodation and have not taken any favours. The department has still not paid me any pension, nor has it given me my department fund of Rs 1 lakh. I had received a similar notice two months ago for vacating the premises. It's a routine thing," Pathan told MiD DAY, adding that he was planningu00a0to vacate the premises as soon as he relocates to a new destination.

On Saturday, MiD DAY had published a story about an internal investigation report submitted by Senior Inspector V B Mukhne about the retired ACP Pathan's role in the case. The report said that after the August 11 riot at Azad Maidan last year around 20 people gathered at his residence and took shelter there for nearly two hours. The men had blood and mud stains on their clothes. The report also said that Pathan was carrying out the work of his political outfit from his police quarters.

Still in the dark?
Curiously, the Crime Branch is claiming it does not know anything about any internal investigation report. As the Crime Branch police had investigated the August 11 riot case, they should have been the first to get the report. But top bosses in the branch said they were not aware of the report or the serious allegations that the senior inspector of Dongri police has made against the ex-ACP. The Crime Branch officers claimed they were in the dark even after this paper published a cover story about the probe report.u00a0