The sessions court on Wednesday rejected the second anticipatory bail plea of suspended deputy commissioner of police (DCP) Saurabh Tripathi, an accused in the Angadia extortion case. His previous plea was dismissed in the last week of March.
His lawyer Vinod Chate contended that Tripathi was neither identified by the witnesses nor there was strong evidence against him. Other accused had already been granted bail and the chargesheet had been filed, the second application, filed on the ground of change of circumstances, said.
Prosecution, however, objected to the plea, saying Tripathi was still absconding and he had not cooperated in the probe.
The court, after hearing both sides, turned down Tripathi’s plea. A detailed order will be made available later.
Tripathi was posted as DCP, zone 2, when an extortion case was registered at LT Marg police station on February 18 against police inspector Om Wangate, assistant police inspector Nitin Kadam, and police sub-inspector Samadhan Jamdade. Purportedly acting on Tripathi’s instructions, the three allegedly extorted ₹19 lakh from Angadias in south Mumbai in December 2021.
The crime intelligence unit of the crime branch arrested Pappu Kumar Pyarelal Gaud, a domestic help with Tripathi’s parents in Lucknow, on March 17. He has been accused of having received part of the extortion money on Tripathi’s instructions. The amount was sent through hawala channels from Mumbai.
Wangate, Kadam, and Jamdade have also been arrested and are in judicial custody, whereas Gaud will be in police custody till March 28.
Tripathi was named as an accused after Wangate revealed his name in the interrogation, a senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer said.
Tripathi is a 2010-batch IPS officer who has served as ADC to the governor of Maharashtra. He was later posted as superintendent of police at Ahmednagar and also served as the DCP in traffic and in zone 4.
