The Sachin Vaze phenomenon

By S Balakrishnan

@zindashahid       

Mumbai: Assistant Police Inspector (API) Sachin Vaze of the Mumbai Police symbolises the rot that has set in very very deep in the city police force. It is a force that is largely motivated by only limitless greed for the moolah. Cops are willing to not only bend the rules, but even break it brazenly if it entails financial gains. It is no more a force dedicated to maintaining law and order, but one which works like a body corporate interested solely on the bottom line.

Imagine an API has the gumption to procure gelatine sticks, place them in a jeep and get the vehicle along with a threatening note parked outside the country’s richest man’s palatial house and he himself tails the jeep in an Innova belonging to the Crime Branch and he himself walks in front of the targeted building. What strikes one is not the clumsiness of the entire operation, but the overconfidence that he won’t be caught. Not only this, Vaze is also accused of killing Mansukh Hiren who apparently refused to play along with the conspiracy and declined to be the fall guy. 

The first question to be asked in any crime investigation is what could be the motive. In this case, it was obviously a devious ploy to extort a huge amount from Mukesh Ambani by first scaring him and later doing “mandavali” or settlement with him on behalf of the criminals targeting himself. And in this case the criminals were no one other than policemen themselves.

The fundamental question to be asked is, was the extortion plan the brainwave of Vaze only or were others involved in the sinister operation.  The answer is an emphatic `no’ because a person of the rank of Vaze, despite his relatively lowly rank in the police hierarchy would not dare take on a powerful industrialist like Mukesh Ambani, whose proximity to the powers that be in Delhi is well known.

There were certainly other corrupt elements in the police and political establishments who were in the loop and they were eagerly looking forward to sharing a loot running into a few thousand crores; money which they reckoned as chickenfeed for Mukeshbhai.

And Vaze did have powerful backers in the ruling Shiv Sena and in the IPS lobby who toiled hard to have him reinstated despite his suspension for his alleged role in the Khwaja Yunus custodial death case. Despite legal opinion going against him and an adverse court verdict, Vaze’s supporters ensured that he is not only reinstated, but also given a plum post in the crime branch.

Given his strong connections with the Shiv Sena (of which he was a spokesperson before his reinstatement) he wielded enormous clout grossly disproportional to his rank as an API. I have seen senior officers wait dutifully outside his cabin in the police headquarters opposite Crawford Market. He had unrestricted access to the then commissioner Param Bir Singh and he could call two top Shiv Sena leaders at will on their confidential phone numbers. 

What is the reason for this pathetic state of affairs in the Mumbai Police? The reason for this is the emergence of a group of IPS officers who were willing to sacrifice their professional dignity at the altar of venal politicians in return for prime postings viz postings where crores of rupees would be raked in. Important zones and regions in Mumbai were virtually auctioned and the post went to the highest bidder.

Certain ambitious IPS officers borrowed monies from builders and even the underworld to pay their political masters so that they get “good” postings. And once they get a posting of their choice, their first priority is to recover the money then have invested as soon as possible. This encouraged corruption from the lowest level upwards. Few things move in Mumbai Police without money greasing the palms of the right cops.

Burking is very common so that a rosy picture of the crime situation is projected. Even certain media persons have been co-opted into the racket so that no adverse reports make it to the newspapers or channels. The city witnessed the unedifying spectacle of a police commissioner, R.S. Sharma being arrested a day after his retirement. Some other IPS officers too were arrested for corruption and other crimes. But these arrests hardly had any impact on the culture of greed intimating the force. 

Leader of opposition Devendra Fadnavis of the BJP has rightly made a big issue of the disgraceful conduct of the Vaze and he has, with considerable justification slammed the Uddhav Thackeray government for its failure to take timely action against Vaze. But what did Fadnavis do as chief minister and in-charge of the home portfolio?

Then police commissioner of Mumbai Sanjay Barve had sent the state home secretary a very detailed letter detailing the corruption and deep nexus of a senior IPS officer with the underworld and even the Dawood Ibrahim gang with known links with Pakistan’s ISI.  Barve had recommended the arrest and criminal prosecution of this IPS officer. 

Fadnavis did zilch about it. The Uddhav Thackeray tasked senior IPS officer Sanjay Pandey, an oddity in the force because of his squeaky cleanliness, with probing the allegations contained in Barve’s letter. Pandey submitted two interim reports to the Thackeray govt, both severely indicting this senior IPS officer. Yet there was no action taken.

So, don’t be in the least surprised if more Vaze’s crawl out of the rotten woodwork called Mumbai Police.

About the author: The writer is a former journalist with The Times of India who is now practising criminal law in Bombay High Court.