Nagpur traffic API suspended over illegal collections from private travel buses

Assistant Police Inspector (API) Ravindra Shedge, posted with the Cotton Market traffic division of the Nagpur Police, has been suspended in a case of bribery and illegal collections. Nagpur Police Commissioner Vishwas Nangare Patil took the action.

The action against corruption in the force has caused a stir in the Nagpur traffic police department.

Ganeshpeth falls within the jurisdiction of the Cotton Market traffic branch. A large number of private travel buses are parked there, and traffic police are deployed to act against these vehicles under traffic rules. The allegation, however, is that police personnel were illegally collecting a weekly payoff from the operators of these buses.

A video showing a police employee taking money recently went viral on social media. A written complaint was then submitted to the Police Commissioner. The inquiry began with this complaint, filed after the video surfaced.

Taking note of the written complaint, Commissioner Nangare Patil handed the inquiry to Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), Traffic, Aditya Mirkhelkar. Mirkhelkar appointed an inquiry committee headed by Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) Girish Bane.

The committee's detailed report found the allegations of illegal collection against Shedge to be true. He had collected Rs 4,000 from a well-known travel company. The task had earlier been handled by a head constable, but after Shedge joined the division he took the responsibility upon himself, the report also found.

After the allegations were established, DCP Mirkhelkar sent a proposal for suspension to the Police Commissioner. Shedge was then suspended.

The sequence was thus: a video went viral, a written complaint followed, the Commissioner handed the inquiry to the DCP, the DCP appointed a committee, the report established the allegations, a suspension proposal was sent, and the suspension followed.

Commissioner Nangare Patil has adopted a zero-tolerance policy against payoff collection and corruption in the police force. According to DCP Mirkhelkar, the suspension is a strong message and a direct warning to other personnel involved in illegal collections.