Caught on camera: Cops taking away bike from society

Avinash Deshmukh a resident of Tanmaypuri apartment in Dahanukar colony woke up on Monday morning only to realize that his motorcycle was missing from the parking area in the basement He immediately filed a complaint with the jurisdictional police and recovered his bike shortly after Later in the day however Deshmukh viewed the CCTV footage of a camera covering the premises from where his motorcycle MH 37 B 6644 had gone missing and was met with a huge shock 1 The police enter the Tanmaypuri society premises in Dahanukar Colony 2 The police with a handcuffed person who points out a bike to them 3 A person in plain clothes takes out the bike from the parking area 4 A policeman and the person in plain clothes push the bike out of the society premises Four policemen were seen along with an unknown handcuffed person wheeling his bike out of its respective parking in the wee hours of Monday On Monday morning Deshmukh approached the Alankar police chowky to lodge a complaint but alleges that he was asked to pay Rs 300 to file a simple FIR He claims that the police also demanded Rs 2000 to perform panchanama Finally in the evening his father received a call from the WarjeMalwadi police stating that his sonrsquos bike had been located Deshmukh said that on Sunday night at 1130 he returned home and parked his bike In the morning when he went down the bike was missing ldquoI immediately told my younger brother and our neighbor Dattatray Gokhale about the incident and we rushed to the Alankar police chowky and filed an FIR However the police personnel who had taken down my complaint took Rs 300 from me to register the complaint and also said that I have to give Rs 2000 while performing lsquopanchanamarsquo in the act Grabs of the CCTV footage showing the police taking away the bike from Tanmaypuri apartment in Dahanukar colony in the wee hours of Monday As I was tense I gave Rs 300 and lodged the complaintrdquo Deshmukh said Deshmukh who hails from Vashim in Vidarbha further said that his father who lives in Vashim received the call from the WarjeMalwadi police station in the evening informing that the bike had been located ldquoMy father called me up and asked me to approach the police station which I did The police officials told me that they had found my bike and arrested the vehicle lifter When I came home we viewed the footage and received a shock At 454 am on Monday four cops along with a handcuffed man were taking away my bikerdquo he said The footage shows a police van stopping at the gate of our apartment at 454 am and four cops three in uniform and one in plainclothes along with a handcuffed man emerging from the vehicle The handcuffed man points out the bike and then one of the cops along with the suspect put a key into the bike lock but fail to start it They then speak to each other and later take away the bike from the apartment premises and the van and bike disappear from view Deputy Commissioner of police Zone I Dnyaneshwar Phadtare however vindicated the act by the police personnel and said that a police team of WarjeMalwadi arrested one Vitthal Rathod for allegedly stealing bikes at old octrio post in Warje and found Deshmukhrsquos bikersquos documents in his possession When interrogated the thief told them that he had stolen the documents from the bikersquos dickey while it was parked in Tanmaypuri apartment The team took the accused to the apartment where he showed them the bike The cops thought that the accused might have stolen the bike from somewhere else and hidden it in the basement as the gate was open and there was no security guard employed They then took the bike along to ensure its safety ldquoWe should appreciate the efforts done by them as they were trying to do their jobrdquo Phadatare said Deshmukhrsquos lawyer Mihir Prabhudesai claims that the police were not following proper procedure Prabhudesai said that if the police teamrsquos intention was good they could have followed correct procedure by bringing a witness along with them or they could have contacted the residents of the apartment Instead they lifted the bike in such a manner that there is scope for suspicion over the act ldquoWe have met ACP crime Anant Shinde and given our application for inquiry into the matter as the whole incident looked to fishy We also urge them to inquire about police personnel from Alankar police chowk who had taken Rs 300 to file an FIR and also for demanding Rs 2000 to perform panchnama of the theft caserdquo said Prabhudesai Phadatare said that the money demand incident at Alankar police chowky is serious and ordered a full inquiry in this regard stating that those behind the act will be punished Police Commissioner Meeran Borwankar has also backed the policemen She said ldquoI do not think there were any malafide intentions when they took the bike as the accused they had arrested for stealing two wheelers is on police record and is involved in several cases of vehicle theft chain snatching and house robberies I have personally checked his recordsrdquo She further said ldquoWe are investigating whether any witness was there when the cops were lifting the bike from the apartment premisesrdquo She also said that the complainant and his lawyer had met her and submitted the application about the incident However they have not mentioned that the complainant was asked for money at Alankar police chowky when he had gone there to lodge a complaint Police took Rs 300 from me to file the complaint and said I had to give Rs 2000 for panchnama Avinash Deshmukh I donrsquot think there were any malafide intentions when they the police took the bikeu00a0 Meeran Borwankar Police Commissioner