This Article is From Jun 26, 2010

Dacoits in Mumbai give 'old' cops the slip

Mumbai: Two accused gave their police escorts a slip while they were being taken to the Vikhroli court in Mumbai on Wednesday.

The reason given by the Vikhroli police was that the cops escorting them were old, and could not run behind the accused. One of the escapees was caught later.

On June 17, the Vikhroli police had taken the accused into custody from Thane jail to investigate a robbery case against them.

Sajid and Harish were being taken to the Vikhroli court when they gave their escorts the slip.

Ravindra Mhatre, investigation officer, Vikhroli police station, said, "Sajid is thin, so he managed to slip his wrists through the handcuffs. He pushed one of the policemen, and bolted with Harish. Our policemen are in their 40s, and, since the accused were criss-crossing fast moving traffic on the highway, we could not catch them."

However, a Navghar police team caught Sajid opposite the Mahim police station.

DCP (Zone VII) R M Vatkar said, "This is unbelievable. It's a clear case of negligence on the part of the policemen who escorted the accused. The standard operational procedure clearly states that if there are four accused, at least four policemen should escort them. We have suspended a police sub-inspector and two police constables for dereliction of duty."
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