Mumbai's police commissioner R.S. Sharma, the man spearheading the battle against the underworld, is himself under fire now. His most celebrated case has turned into his worst nightmare after a colleague recently scrutinised his handling of investigations into a Rs 3,500-crore scam involving counterfeit stamps and stamp paper and found several acts of omission and commission. Deputy Inspector General S.K. Jaiswal, who looked into allegations of misconduct by Pune police officers in the initial stages of investigation, has recommended that the government take action against Sharma (who was Pune police commissioner then) and other top guns in Pune police, including the then joint commissioner M.S. Maheshgauri and additional commissioner S.M. Mushrif. In his no-holds-barred report — procured by new English news channel NDTV 24X7 — Jaiswal has squarely blamed the trio for jeopardising the case. The probe was ordered following allegations by Mushrif that some of his colleagues were trying to sabotage investigations and were making efforts to get the wife and daughter of the main accused, Abdul Karim Telgi, off the hook. It was in June last year that Pune police stumbled upon the racket operating in several states. The nature of the crime was such that the government had to stop sale of stamps and stamp papers for several days and conduct a scrutiny of its records. A Pune police team traced the racket to Telgi after a car (registered in the name of Telgi’s daughter) was found with contraband of fake stamps. Police unearthed an elaborate network involved in printing and sale of counterfeit stamps across several states. Telgi was arrested by Karnataka police and is jailed there. Jaiswal’s report has highlighted the lackadaisical attitude of senior policemen from Pune in the investigation after the prime accused was arrested. Sharma’s failure to insist on application of the provisions of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) on Telgi was a strategic error, the report says. Considering the nature of the crime, invoking MCOCA without delay would have given policemen more time (180 days) than the 90-day limit set by regular laws for conducting an investigation and filing a chargesheet. Eventually, MCOCA was applied, but the delay proved costly and could have helped some of the operatives to escape. When The Indian Express sought his reaction to the report, Sharma said: ‘‘I am only reading about the report in the newspapers. I do not know. Let the government ask me, then I will say whatever I want to.’’ As an afterthought, he added: ‘‘The procedure is to submit the report to the government and not the press..’’ Jaiswal has stated that Mushrif — the officer responsible for the case — and Maheshgauri should also share the blame for the delay. In fact, the probe itself was the fallout of a cold war between Sharma and Mushrif, to the extent that the latter has been quoted in the report as saying that Sharma had asked him what could have been the cost of not listing the wife of a wealthy person as an accused. Doubts have also been raised over Sharma’s decision to include ACP Mulani in the team. Ironically, Sharma himself had spoken about the ‘‘dubious credentials’’ of the officer before the special investigation team led by Jaiswal. Mulani was transferred from Pune on September 4 last year for ‘‘allegedly playing a dubious role in the investigation’’ but Sharma went on to pick him for the team after the application of MCOCA provisions (on Sept 6). Jaiswal has described this decision as ‘‘inexplicable’’. Jaiswal submitted his report to the Home department on March 28. He has recommended action against Sharma, Mushrif (for being part of the senior order in Pune responsible for the lackadaisical approach) and Maheshgauri, accusing them of acts of omission and commission. Action has also been recommended against several other officers. Jaiswal has also commented that investigation of an economic crime of a serious nature can never be handled by police station officers. It should be tackled by specialised agencies like the local crime branch, CID (crime) or the CBI, he said. In an interim report to the Home department on January 10, Jaiswal had recommended that Assistant Police Inspector D.P. Kamat, Assistant Sub-Inspector G.M. Deore and constables P.T. Bhise and M.K. Borde, all from crime branch, Mumbai, be dismissed. They were accused of being hand-in-glove with Telgi who, while in police custody, was found relaxing in his luxurious flat at Cuffe Parade. Sharma, instead of dismissing them, had then placed the officers under suspension without assigning any reason.
