The Free Press Journal

Monster cop finally held

- SURESH GOLANI STAFF REPORTER Mumbai -BOMBAY HIGH COURT.

Exactly a fortnight after a 43-year-old Mumbai police personnel was booked for sexually molesting his wife and biological daughters, (including a minor) the Bhayandar police finally arrested the accused cop on Monday.

The accused police personnel has been identified asRaiba Bhagwan Shinde (43), who was posted at unit 4 of the local arms division in Marol. According to investigat­ing officials, a FIR was filed against Raiba, after his wife registered a compliant at Karad police station which was later transferre­d to the Bhayandar police. The complainan­t alleged that Raiba would come home in an inebriated state and pick up quarrels that would often escalate into violent attacks and sexual assaults on her and both her daughters.

The Bombay high court on Wednesday tur ned down the plea filed by two activists, seeking CBI probe against ministers and bureaucrat­s allegedly involved in multi- crore-irrigation scam.

Social activists Pravin Wategaonka­r and Ketan Tirodkar had sought direction to CBI to probe into grant of approval to 38 irrigation projects in 11 districts of the state. A division bench of Justices S C Dhar madhikari and S B Shukre, however, observed that the petitioner­s had alter nate remedies under law to approach a lower court with a private complaint.

Dismissing the petition the court said, “Just because public servants are involved does not mean that the petitioner­s cannot approach the lower court. If a private complaint is filed and the court feels that a cognizable offence is made out then it can direct for FIR to be lodged and the investigat­ing agency will later file a report.

"The lower court is not going to get influenced by the fact that the persons against whom FIR has been sought are public servants and high ranking bureaucrat­s including a minister," the Court said.

Wategaonka­r had questioned the validity of the Special Investigat­ion Team for med by the Chief Minister to look into the irrigation scam. He had also demanded to know if the SIT has any punitive powers. He infor med court that the SIT consisted of persons who are knowledgea­ble about the waterrelat­ed issues. However, he said that they do not have in depth knowledge about the punitive action that can be taken against the accused.

Wategaonka­r’s petition sought an inquiry into alleged cases in which "idle charges" were paid to contractor­s while withholdin­g dues and demands of the project-affected and payments towards forest land/forest clearances, etc, in Jamda and other KIDC projects till 2011-12 and the public servants who approved these payments.

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