‘Tainted’ MBMC peon abducted by babus

Bhayandar Police have registered a First Information Report (FIR) against three men for abducting and assaulting a peon attached to the anti-encroachment squad of the Mira-Bhayandar Municipal Corporation (MBMC). However, no arrests have been made so far.

The FIR was in response to a complaint filed by Rakesh Tribhuvan, who alleged that two men, identified as Vinod Naik and Nikhil Sawant, allegedly abducted him and took him to a hotel on the Bhayandar-Uttan Road, where he was assaulted after office hours on Wednesday. In his statement to the police, Tribhuvan has alleged that the duo, along with their accomplice Amol Patil, was irate over the recent inspection and crackdown ordered by senior municipal officers against illegal construction activities in the coastal belt of Uttan and surrounding areas. It was also alleged that the accused trio forced Tribhuvan to name officials who took bribes to shelter illegal constructions in the region and also filmed the complainant making statements, which he claimed to have done under pressure and intimidation.

Tribhuvan stated he was let off late in the night after being warned of dire consequences if he were to reveal the incident to anyone. Interestingly, the complainant had himself landed in the Anti-Corruption Bureau's net for extorting money from hawkers in 2015, raising a serious question mark on the authenticity of his accusations.

Thanks to the ‘'blessings’ of local politicians and a section of corrupt officers in the MBMC, the Dongri-UttanDhavgi-Chowk belt has become a hotbed for illegal construction activities posing a serious threat to the eco-sensitive region.

Meanwhile, a case under sections 323, 342, 365 and 506 of the IPC was registered on Friday against the trio at the Bhayandar police station.