Special Branch team of Mumbai Police was in civil clothes to nab illegal Bangladeshi immigrants at Kumbadbhuje; nine injured in the melee

Navi Mumbai: An early morning operation to apprehend illegal Bangladeshi immigrants at Kumbadbhuje village in Belapur turned out to be a nightmare for officials of the Special Branch I of the Mumbai Police. One sub-inspector, six personnel, and three informers were thrashed by villagers after they were mistaken for thieves.

At around 3 a.m. on Tuesday, the team reached the village without intimating the local police. The villagers, who have been facing house break-ins over the past two months, have been vigilant. The sight of the team who were in civil dress and their secretive way of looking around, was enough to arouse suspicion that they were a gang of thieves.

Meanwhile, an official from the team climbed the roof of a house to catch a Bangladeshi who was trying to escape. Villagers who saw that raised an alarm.

“We have been having sleepless nights for the last two months. A group of boys patrol the village at night and that is when they saw these people loitering suspiciously and climbing stairs and roofs. When asked who they were, they said they were police and we asked them to show their ID cards. But all they showed us was their voter ID cards and driving licences. We also asked them to show their police vehicle, but they could not. Since there was nothing concrete that they could show us to prove that they were police, the entire village took the matter into their own hands and beat them up,” said Rajesh Koli, a villager.

Deepali Koli, another resident, said, “We still feel they were thieves and the police are now protecting them. They had nothing to show us to prove their authenticity. What if they used some spray and kidnapped children. The lady from the team was hiding on the first floor of a house. If she was a policewoman, why did she hide?”

At the time of the incident, senior inspector Shekhar Bagde from NRI Coastal police station, was patrolling in Ulwe. “I got a call and was told that villagers of Kumbadbhuje had nabbed some thieves and I immediately left for the village. After I reached there, I realised that they were not thieves, but police officials from Mumbai. The mob was uncontrollable. I tried to convince them that they were cops in civil dress and that the Mumbai officials showed them their ID cards, but the mob was not ready to listen.” Assistant Police Commissioner Kiran Patil, Deputy Police Commissioner Prashant Khaire, and a team of Riot Control Force had to rescue the seven police officials and their three informers from the angry mob. “It took around one hour to rescue them. They were admitted to Vashi Municipal Hospital from where three of them were shifted to MGM hospital in Vashi,” said Mr. Bagde.

Clothes torn

The mob had torn the clothes of one of the lady constables and threw away some of their mobile phones. Sticks and bamboos were used, which was video-recorded by some of the local police staff. The police plan to use that video as an evidence against the accused.

“We will have to arrest the accused thoughtfully taking into account that it could create a law and order issue. But we will soon be arresting them,” said Mr. Bagde. A total of nine people — four police personnel, three informers and a Bangladeshi couple — were injured. Constables Narendra Patil, Murlidhar Gavli and lady constable Mangal Urankar received major injuries leading to fracture and internal bleeding, and are in MGM Hospital.

Meanwhile, sub-inspector Chandrakant Koyande, three informers Alam Shaikh, Badshah Shaikh, Daulat Khan, and a Bangladeshi couple received treatment at Vashi Municipal Hospital. The couple now is in the custody of the Special Branch team.

Case registered

A case against 100-150 men and 20-25 women from the village has been registered with the NRI Coastal police for rioting, outraging the modesty of a women, deterring a public servant from exercising his duty, and voluntarily causing grievous hurt, under the sections 326, 354, 353, 143, 147, 149 and 34 of the IPC read with section 37 (1) and 137 of the Mumbai Police Act.