Total eight accused, including brother of the PSI, have been arrested by Crime Branch
Nagpur: In a shocking revelation, it has come to light that a suspended Police Sub-Inspector (PSI) of the State Anti-Naxal Operations (ANO), now behind bars for allegedly raping a minor, has emerged as as the mastermind behind a drug racket sitting right in the Nagpur Central Prison.
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Sat 23 Dec. 2024
The information came to fore when a MCOCA accused was busted by a prison constable for smuggling ganja (Marijuana) and mobile phone batteries into the jail on Monday, police said. On Tuesday, Central Jail authorities conducted four-hour-long searches in different barracks.
The Anti-Narcotics Cell, Crime Branch teams under DCP Chinmay Pandit, DCP Sandeep Pakhale, ACPs Nilesh Salve, Roshan Pandit and comprising 10 PIs and 200 staff conducted the searches in the jail and across Nagpur. DIG Swati Sathe said a vigilance team from Pune would soon reach Nagpur for a more intensive inquiry.
Nagpur Crime Branch on Tuesday arrested seven persons, including the PSI Pradeep Kumar Nitawane’s brother Sachin who is a constable with tehsil police, Kawale’s brother Shubham, their friend Suraj Waghmare, Bhagirath Khardayal, Atharva Khatakhati, Moreshwar Sonawane and Mukesh Naidu alias Baba. Khatakhati was a co-accused with gangster Sheikhu in an Ambazari kidnapping case.
According to police, PSI Nitnawne was suspended in July when he was booked under rape charges by Sitabuldi police. Elaborating on the role of PSI Nitnawne in the drug trafficking case, police said that a mobile phone was in possession of Suraj Kawle. The PSI and Kawle were in the same barrack of the jail. The suspended police officer was using the phone in the jail secretly and speaking to his relatives and friends. Rs 45,000 were delivered to Kawale’s friend in Nagpur after PSI Nitnawne’s phone to his friend from the jail. The cash was used to purchase ganja and mobile phone batteries, the police added. Cops suspected that around 10 mobile phones were being operated by the inmates in the Nagpur Jail.
Kawale’s brother Shubham Kawle and Bhagirath Thardayal gave a file to Suraj Kawle when he was produced in the court on Monday. Kawle returned to the jail at 1.30 pm. He was carrying a file of documents in his hand. When he was entering the jail from the main entrance gate, Prison constable Ramdas Kawle grew suspicious of him due to the weight of the file. Upon checking the file, Ramdas was surprised as the Ganja packets and mobile batteries were hidden between two pages in the file and the pages were pasted, according to Jail Superintendent Anup Kumre. A total of 51 grams of ganja was found in three packets along with 15 batteries. The material was seized by the Dhantoli police.
According to reports, Shubham and Bhagirath had posed as attorneys to hand over the charge-sheet file to Kawale with the batteries and ganja inside it. Khatakhati was a co-accused with gangster Sheikhu in an Ambazari kidnapping case. Kawale had befriended Khatakhati and Naidu while in jail. Sonawane is a Khaparkheda-based drug peddler.
