Daijiworld Media Network- Mumbai
Mumbai, May 14: In a major embarrassment for the Mumbai Police, Senior Inspector Bapurao Madhukar Deshmukh, head of the Shivaji Nagar Police Station, was arrested by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) on Tuesday night after he was caught red-handed accepting a bribe of Rs 1 lac inside his own office.
According to ACB officials, the 57-year-old officer had allegedly demanded Rs 2.5 lac from a local school trustee in exchange for police protection and assistance in an ongoing property-related legal matter. The complainant, a 41-year-old trustee of a school in the Shivaji Nagar area, had approached the police after miscreants forcibly entered the school premises on August 15, 2024, breaking the lock during a property dispute. Despite filing a complaint and also moving the Charity Commissioner, he was left vulnerable to further encroachments.
Instead of taking prompt legal action, Inspector Deshmukh reportedly demanded a hefty bribe of Rs 3 lac, later negotiated to Rs 2.5 lac. Refusing to bow down to the illegal demand, the trustee approached the ACB, triggering an official investigation.
Following procedural verification, the ACB laid a trap and apprehended Deshmukh while he was accepting Rs 1 lac—the first instalment of the alleged bribe—inside the Shivaji Nagar police station.
Deshmukh, a Class I officer nearing retirement in less than a year, was booked under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act. He is scheduled to be produced before court on Wednesday. The ACB operation was led under the supervision of Additional Commissioner Sandeep Diwan and Additional DCPs Anil Gherdikar and Rajendra Sangale.
Sources within the ACB confirmed that Deshmukh’s financial records and assets will now be thoroughly scrutinized to determine whether he owns properties disproportionate to his known sources of income.
The arrest has sent shockwaves through the law enforcement community, reigniting concerns about corruption at senior levels within the police force. Citizens and civic groups have called for stringent action and institutional reforms to restore public trust in law enforcement agencies.