RTI query forces Nalasopara cops to probe 2016 case

Nalasopara police have resumed investigation into a forgery in 2006 by a dreaded murder convict and a few officers In 2014 Azam Aslam Butt was sentenced to life for murdering Kashinath Gharat However he was released from Nagpur jail in May last year over Covid19 precautions Once out he threatened Gharatrsquos family prompting them to file a complaint and later file an RTI to find the number of FIRs registered against Butt It was the RTI response that forced the Nalasopara police to restart the probeButt had threatened Gharatrsquos family in February this year He told Vishwanath that he will kill him and throw his body into Chembur nullah following which his brother Vishwanath filed a complaint at Oshiwara police station and sought police protection The family had police protection earlier but it was removed during the pandemicThe family then filed an RTI query to know how many FIRs are registered against Butt and learnt about the one filed for forgery at Nalasopara police station They then met the deputy commissioner of police of Nalasopara and this meeting prompted the officers to start investigationWhatrsquos the forgery caseIn 2006 a year after murdering Gharat Butt had approached court for bail and had forged the witness documents which were signed by certain Nalasopara police personnel Till 2014 he used these forged documents to get bail repeatedlyKashinath the victimHowever in 2014 the high court found the witness to be suspicious and ordered the Oshiwara police to verify the details Oshiwara police which had registered the Gharatrsquos murder case instructed Nalasopara police to conduct an indepth inquiry into the documents as the witness was a resident NalasoparaAlso read Insult to those who are still grieving Kin of Covid19 victims ask govt to not rub salt on their woundsCopsrsquo signatures forgedDuring the inquiry Nalasopara cops found that some of their officers mdash Assistant Police Inspector API Sudhir Wagh and constable Suhdir Patil mdash forged the documents of the witness and helped Butt get bail Wagh and Patil however claimed that their signatures on the witness documents were forged In 2016 the HC ordered a case in the matterNalasopara police had also called the witness Satyendra Kumar Mistry and found that his identity cards were forged by an unknown police officer for the witness documents However no investigation was done into the matter until now Police are now looking for Butt and trying to identify the cops involvedldquoShockingly the unknown officer of the Nalasopara police verified the documents he forged the documents of the witness and accepted a fake Witness and submitted all his documents to the court also The case paper was accepted by the API Sudhir Wagh of Nalasopara police station on 11 July 2006 and later for verification the documents was submitted by the constable Suhdir Pundlik Patil at Nalasopara police station who is currently at Navghar police stationrdquo reads the forgery FIRSenior Inspector Vilas Supe of Nalasopara police station said ldquoWe have registered a case Butt unknown police officer and constable of Nalasopara police station and others for forging documents of the witness and submitting fake report in the court We are in search of Butt Investigation is underwayrdquoVishwanath Gharat right with mother Parvati Gharat holding a photo of Kashinath and sister KalpanaCurrently Butt is living at Ashiyana society at Juhu and created a nuisance there as well a resident said on condition of anonymity Nagpur Jail Superintendent Anup Kumar Kumre told midday ldquoDue to Covid19 we released many accused Butt was also released on parole for 45 days and it was extended later Once we get the order from the government to take back all the accused we will do so I know about Buttrsquos history and that he had jumped parole many times in the pastrdquoKin seek police protectionGharatrsquos brother Vishwanathsaid ldquoI wrote a letter to the Oshiwara police station in March that my family had been threatened by Butt in February Due to the pandemic our police protection was also removed from 18 March 2020 Butt is roaming freely and still threatening us We demanded police protection from the Oshiwara police station but still havenrsquot received any help I also requested Oshiwara police to send the accused to jail but nothing yetrdquo Senior Inspector Sanjay Bendale of Oshiwara police station said ldquoWe received the complaint from the deceasedrsquos family and that they need police protection from Butt We have sent the letter for the process Once we get approval we will give them police protectionrdquoGharat was 39yearold when Butt along with an accomplice brutally murdered him and threw his dead body into a nullahMayMonth in 2020 Butt was given parole due to Covid192006Year Azam Aslam Butt forged the documents for bail