'Strict action against Sangli police officers'

SANGLI: The Sangli district superintendent of police (DSP), Ashok Kamate, said on Friday that stringent action would be taken against police officials arrested by the Mumbai police on the charges of demanding a bribe of Rs 1 lakh.
Speaking to reporters here, Kamate said that he was awaiting a report from the anti-corruption bureau, which had on Wednesday arrested Sangli''s police inspector Suresh Pawar and assistant police inspector Adhik Pol for seeking the bribe from a Borivili-based jeweller, Sallauddin Shaikh.
The two officers had allegedly sought the bribe to exclude the jeweller from the list of suspects in the Rajarambapu co-operative bank robbery case. A gang had last month looted cash and gold ornaments worth Rs 29 lakh from the Kokarud branch of the bank.
Mumbai''s sessions judge P.N. Deshmukh has remanded both the police officers to police custody till June 16. In his complaint, Shaikh has alleged that Islampur''s deputy superintendent of police Sarang Avhad had also demanded bribe of Rs 1 lakh from him.
The ACB has also lodged a case against Avhad in this connection.
A few days back, speaking to reporters, DSP Kamate had said that Shaikh, who was initially a suspect in the case,would be released as he was not involved in the incident. However, Pawar and Pol continued to threaten Shaikh and demanded the bribe.
According to the complainant, the two had collected Rs 25,000 from him in Sangli and had demanded the remaining amount in Mumbai.
Thereafter, Shaikh had lodged a complained against them.