(Reproduced
below from the Times of India 12th April 2008,
Frontpage)
Frame-up of
builder: Top cop in dock
Patnaik
Issued Illegal Orders: CID
S Ahmed Ali | TNN
Mumbai: Another top police officer
is in the dock in the Chaturvedi case with the state
CID blaming additional director-general of police
Arup Patnaik for issuing illegal orders in a case
that has already seen the suspension of deputy
inspector general Bipin Bihari.
The CID, in an interim report submitted to the state
home department on April 1, had stated that Patnaik,
then Mumbais joint commissioner (law and
order), had overruled juniors and ordered the arrest
of builder Rajendra Chaturvedi. The CID has sought
permission from the home department to take
appropriate action against Patnaik. At the same time,
it has absolved former Mumbai police commissioners A
N Roy and D N Jadhav of any involvement in the
frame-up.
Rubbishing the allegations, Patnaik said he was being
framed. I did not order the arrest of
Chaturvedi, he said. He also denied
issuing orders to invoke MCOCA in the case.
Addl
DGP Arup Patnaik
In the report
prepared by additional superintendent of
police R Popre, a copy of which is in the
possession of TOI, its stated that
Patnaik ignored the view of zonal deputy
commissioner of police Vinay Chaube and
senior inspector of Juhu police station
Pradeep Shinde who had informed him on
March 14 that there was no evidence
against Chaturvedi.
The following day Chaturvedi was arrested
for allegedly giving a contract for the
killing of rival builder Rashmikant Shah.
Patnaik is alleged to have instructed
Shinde to record Shahs statement
and arrest Chaturvedi.
The Chaturvedi
Case So Far
On February 24, 2007, the Juhu police
arrested four men for allegedly planning
to kill builder Rashmikant Shah outside
the Holiday Inn. But the CID, which later
probed the case, found that Shah had
never visited the hotel. The Juhu police
claimed that rival builder Rajendra
Chaturvedi had hatched a plot to kill
Shah to benefit from the redevelopment of
Abhudaya Nagar in Kalachowky in Central
Mumbai. They further said that spiritual
guru Udaynath Maharaj had given a supari
to the four hitmen to eliminate Shah.
Police said they had recovered a
countrymade revolver, Shahs photo
and cash of Rs 12.5L from the four
hitmen.
Mumbai: The CID, in its interim report on the
frame-up of builder Rajendra Chaturvedi, has said
that then joint commissioner (law and order) Arup
Patnaik had ignored the view of zonal DCP Vinay
Chaube and senior inspector Pradeep Shinde that there
was no evidence against Chaturvedi.
Chaube, in his deposition before the CID, had stated
that directions to arrest Chaturvedi had come from
Patnaik and Bihari. Patnaik told the CID that he had
asked the local police to record Shahs
statement but denied issuing any instructions to
arrest Chaturvedi.
The CID, during its probe, learnt that 36 officals
from various police stations were summoned to arrest
Chaturvedi from his residence. The CID report
observes that the order to send 36 policemen could
have come only from a senior officer and not the
concerned deputy commissioner or police station.
Police personnel attached to Juhu police station were
under pressure from Patnaik to arrest Chaturvedi, the
report noted.
On March 14, a day before Chaturvedis arrest, a
meeting was held at DCP Chaubes Bandra office
which was attended by D N Jadhav, Patnaik, Chaube,
Pradeep Shinde and others. At the meeting, Shinde
told his seniors that there was no evidence against
Chaturvedi. Shinde also told the CID that they were
under tremendous pressure from Patnaik and Bihari to
invoke MCOCA against Chaturvedi and the other accused
in the case.
The case was taken away from assistant commissioner
of police G Nimgaonkar who said at the meeting that
there was insufficient evidence to book Chaturvedi
under MCOCA.