I don’t know gangster: ASI suspended for land grab

“I don’t even know Manjeet Mahal, met him only in Bhondsi jail on Friday,” assistant sub-inspector Raj Singh of the Gurgaon police’s crime branch, who was arrested on Thursday in an alleged land grab case, said on Sunday, a day after he was released on bail.

Singh claimed he was being targeted by former Gurgaon police officials whom he had paid a bribe of ₹15 lakh for “not putting fake corruption charges” on him.

The suspended officer, who allegedly asked dreaded gangster Mahal to threaten Rakesh Kumar, on whose complaint the police arrested Singh, conducted a press conference on Sunday afternoon where he claimed that the charges against him were completely baseless.

Singh was arrested after Kumar complained to the police commissioner that he was trying to usurp a 500 square yard plot in Sector 45. Kumar alleged that he received threat calls from Mahal on June 27 and then again on June 30 with regard to the plot.

He complained to the CP that Singh had asked Mahal to make these calls and had not registered the plot in his name despite taking ₹20 lakh from him.

Mahal allegedly made these calls from inside the Bhondsi jail. The police swung into action after the complaint was filed.

“I got a call from the CIA on July 13 and went there myself. Had I been in the wrong, would have I gone there voluntarily?” Singh said. Kumar had also alleged that he was attacked and threatened by Singh on July 10 inside Sector 53 police station in the presence of police officers. Singh rubbished the charge.

Singh said he had received a call from Kumar on July 9, asking him to come to Sector 53 police station. “Kumar and I are closely related, as his plot is adjacent to mine in Wazirabad. I got a call from him asking me to come to the police station in connection with some case,” Singh said.

“If I had threatened and assaulted him at the police station in the presence of the SHO, then the officer, too, should be booked. If not, the case should be withdrawn,” Singh said.

GANGSTER WHO MADE CALL TO BE GRILLED

The gangster who made a threat call from inside the Bhondsi jail, will be questioned by the crime branch, police officials said. The police have sought production warrant for gangster Manjeet Mahal and the crime branch has initiated the legal process. Police said Rakesh Kumar, a resident of Jhund Sarai village complained to the police that he had bought a plot from Raj Kumar of Wazirabad village, but the latter was not getting the plot registered in his name.